


The Tiniest of Purple Stars

by Dawnbie



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Albino Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Alien Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Alien Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Alien Deceit | Janus Sanders, Alien Logic | Logan Sanders, Alien Morality | Patton Sanders, Alien dads, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Has PTSD, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Needs a Hug, Baby Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Child Neglect, Deceit | Janus Sanders Has PTSD, Deceit | Janus Sanders Needs a Hug, Drugging, Fighting Rings, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Human Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Humans are space orcs, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Medical Torture, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Past Child Abuse, Past Torture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sympathetic Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, Tall Deceit | Janus Sanders, Torture, Trafficking, fanwork, humans are space fae, they need several hugs, why isnt this a tag?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:41:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 37,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28122525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawnbie/pseuds/Dawnbie
Summary: Janus wakes up having become the newest merchandise on a smuggler ship. They seemed to have put him in a cell with a youngling of some kind. The odd duo are able to escape back to safety, but not without severe consequences. Thank god Janus knows some good people.** This is gonna get dark before we get to any fluff. TW for Torture, experimentation, abuse of minors, etc. Yeah, this is gonna be a first for me.**
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 76
Kudos: 203





	1. Small Allies in Grim Places

**Author's Note:**

> This is gonna be one of my first multi-chapter fics, so if I mess up anywhere feel free to bring it up.  
> TW for implied child dissection/experimentation, implied child torture, kidnappings, and abductions. If I missed any then please inform me.
> 
> Edit: I fixed it from the HTML format it started with which made all the italics normal, that should be fixed now.

The first thing Janus could feel upon regaining consciousness was _pain_.

There was a crippling pain down his back, in his skull, even his muscles feel pulled in far too many places, he’d be lucky if his tail didn’t bruise. The only thing that was helping was the dimest of lighting in the-

… Shit, he was in a cell. If the smell of blood and sweat in the air had any indication, he was most likely on a smuggler ship. _Just lovely_. How did he even get here? The last thing he remembered was him and Remus piloting their cozy little ship. They were headed to this one show they had been saving up to see all junxii breeding season, Remus’ idea of course. But then they had saw something large approaching on their radar, by the time they realized what it could have been they-

-He could smell something else in his cell, something _alive_ . _He can even hear it breathing._

The Klrunaq immediately sprung to his feet, twisting around to face the source of the _alive_ smell with the sharpest of his teeth on display. Instinctively adding in a hiss as a means of _back off_ for good measure. He didn’t see anybody there. Not there nor somewhat lower than he normally meets the eyes of most life forms. That can’t be right, he was able to hear breathing, how could there be no one… This wasn’t even an issue of his intergalactic species having bad eyesight, they’re known for their night vision for plasma sake! It wasn’t until he heard a tiny hiss back did he think to _look at the ground_. 

It was a youngling of some kind sitting on the floor of his cell. It stood out harshly against the slightest lights in the room’s floor. Said youngling was staring up at him clearly curious of the much larger deathworlder. The little youngling hissed at him a few more times as the much larger being could only blink in confusion at the mimicking. Janus couldn’t tell if he should feel insulted or angered, either from the assumption that these smugglers thought a youngling made an appropriate cellmate or the assumption that he would eat what was clearly some form of sentient life… well, eat it _raw_ , that is. He isn’t above enjoying some things from his local market after all.

Back to the point, this youngling clearly didn’t fully grasp that Janus was a possible threat. Either that or this one was aware but just didn’t care, which Janus could respect considering the circumstances. The scaled creature's short lived adrenaline burst has subsided and left Janus with the horrific pain once more, as he felt himself needing to sit back onto the ground. Which he obliged without a fight, groaning as he reached the ground. Yeah, he probably fucked up his back.

Now being at a more ground level with the small youngling, he quickly began to recognize some key features on this creature as it continued to stare back at him. The head puff like grevnjii, the hyperactive-expressive eyes of a flutsra back on his home planet, the flat claws seen on a vixcove all hinted at- _maybe_ human. Normally he’d be able to tell right away if it was a human youngling for certain considering how well his own species got along with humans in general, being deathworlders and all that. But the nearly white of the color of this youngling’s hairs, the paleness is also alarming- he knew humans could be pale but this felt excessive, and this one’s iris. Last he had checked human iris didn’t come in purplish-pink. He’s fairly certain these are the traits found in said flustra, and those are _inbred pets_ meant to look like something thrown in someone’s washing rituals. The bizarre sack-like cloth that made up this baby’s coverings was downright shameful, especially considering the various stains present on it. The baby’s whole outfit is being held up with a knot over the little fellas shoulder.

Has no one been taking care of this little one? He wouldn’t exactly put it past smugglers, he’s sure that if smugglers didn’t need to keep most of their victims alive then they wouldn’t be making as much of a profit. It’s a problem made only worse with the introduction of humans, in more ways than what could be counted...

...Okay, the staring went from equal curiosity to now being creepy. It’s a shame Janus is used to breaking the tension with adults and not children, god help him if he ever has any.

“... well, hello there. I take it, this is _your_ room?” _Nailed it._

“...Lello.” The small youngling gurgled in response with an extra helping of drool and mouth full of hand. How the hell was Janus supposed to carry conversation with a literal baby? Was this child trying to greet him or point out the color of his scales? Well, at least this youngling seemed just as awkward as he felt. Janus would later deny having attempted to have gathered info out of this child.

The only question should’ve been easy for any child, “do you know where we are in space at this point?” The Klrunaq would’ve even taken the child pointing at the floor as an answer as even this ship seemed like the kind to announce where they’d be next to their merchandise, based off the speakers in the far wall. But all the kid did was stare at him like he’d just asked him the meaning of life. 

“Poit?” Looks like he would wait for an announcement, this wasn’t just a _small_ youngling but one that clearly didn’t know what he was saying if the accent is anything to go by. A passing guard didn’t seem to like the sound of the youngling talking as the bars were smacked with one of the electric-batons.

The small one jumped then looked to Janus. Then the little one began to, unconsciously, pout his lip as liquid came out of its eyes. The Klrunaq couldn’t help the crawling feeling of protectiveness over the small creature, despite how odd it seemed at first as it was behaving just as he’s read humanling’s to behave and how similar some of the protective instincts the two intergalactic species shared. Every part of him was demanding that either he comforts the young or he picks a fight with the guard. As tempting as letting the guard have it is, he doesn’t wanna exacerbate the quietly whimpering mess on the floor any further than it has already.

He isn’t exactly familiar if there’s any specific way humans hold their young, but he’ll figure it out as he goes along. He scooted closer a bit to make sure he was in range, and slowly held his hands out to see how receptive the little fella was to being held. It took a moment for the odd youngling to realize that Janus was offering comfort, even then seemed to take the long way of crawling into his lap. The second the humanling touched its face to Janus’ chest and felt arms wrapped around its tiny body it was like the act itself released a dam. All Janus could do was scoot back against the wall as he held the shakily heaving humanling. As Janus rubbed against the youngling’s back, he could feel stitches down where it’s spine would be. Once the little one calms down he’ll have to have a look over to gather all the damage so far, until then however he’ll need to tread carefully about where he touches to avoid as much pain or tugging as possible.

He even begins to hum in hopes that it’ll be enough to calm it enough to check over.

The more he hums, the more the humanling calms down. The more it calms the more it begins to allow Janus to remove its tiny hands and lie the little fella against his slightly perched legs. 

_Holy fuck it’s so much worse than what he first thought._

Even in the weak lighting he can see the stitching lining down it’s front, like someone’s school project. Give him the time to look, he can even see stitches and scars along his hairline. Far too many emotions began seething under his scales, one in particular that he could feel in particular was unfiltered _rage_ . He’ll definitely make it a note to let his partner Remus kill at least half these smugglers in particular once he got out of there. The only good thing out of checking was that not only did he know what he was preventing from happening anymore while he was awake, but also that this little _fella_ appears to be a little _guy_. It isn’t much information about this youth, but at least it’s a start.

He tucked the little bean’s clothes back over him and tied it back up, understanding how much it can suck when cold and not wanting to risk anything with a humanling he’s _kinda_ stuck with. He slowly brought the pipsqueak back up to his chest, tired clear on his tiny face. Janus merely held him there, _clearly_ only doing it as a means of comforting the bundle of flesh in his arms. He would later deny enjoying holding the baby and sharing warmth between each other.

Guess Janus is on guard duty now.


	2. A Nightmare Unraveled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where the fucked up shit really starts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning!: TW for Detailed Description of Torture, TW for Crying, & TW for Graphic Violence!
> 
> Seriously, please take care of yourselves. If you can't handle these things then just hold off reading this fic for the next few chapters.

Janus sat there holding his pint-sized cellmate, holding him like he was gonna freeze. It had only been a few minutes since he had first checked over this humanling, but his previously experienced anger has begun to simmer into worry. These captors haven’t tried to do anything to him yet, not as far as he can tell anyhow. Sure the subsiding headache and sore body is a bit alarming, but that could just be a side effect from his fighting when he was being captured in the first place. So what exactly would smugglers be gaining from kidnapping him specifically? His most obvious guesses included his organs, but even with all the bounty hunting he and Remus had done early on in their relationship, not once did he enter a situation where he had found his own kind being smuggled. So he was stuck being completely in the dark on this. 

It wasn’t much longer until he could hear a slight wheezing sound. With the nearly silent hum of the aircraft and the quiet breathing from the humanling as the only dominant sounds, it was no surprise Janus could hear it so clearly. Janus held the child just a bit closer, suddenly feeling on edge. ‘That’s probably just a leaking pipe,’ He had rationalized. He hardly doubted that any smuggler would think, let alone risk, giving two deathworlders the same dosage of knock-out gas. Especially with a vast size and content tolerance between varying development stages, that could risk killing one of them! The reptilian alien nodded to himself slightly in satisfaction.

Soon he began to feel tired again, could he have gotten a concussion during his fight? He found no matter how hard he fought, he couldn’t fight away the need for sleep as his eyes began to droop more. His head and limbs continued to feel heavier and heavier. For a moment all felt safe, despite the cell he was in.

Then he felt something pulling the humanling in his arms, causing said youth to jump. He snapped his eyes open only to see one of the guards grabbing the baby.

The two locked eyes, both too shocked to move. Janus recovered first, he yanked the young back to his body and thrashed his tail at the guard. The guard had pulled back slightly, grabbing his radio, shouting in a language he wasn’t familiar with. He jumped to his feet, smashing into the guard and dashing for the opened cell. He would’ve gone farther if it wasn’t for the extra guards with stronger darts and electric batons already there. The guards had surrounded the Klrunaq, holding him in a vise grip as he struggled less and less, adding more electric shocks and darts the weaker he seemed to get. The last thing Janus heard as his consciousness was robbed from him again was the sound of the youth beginning to cry again.

  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

  
  


When Janus woke up again, he found himself getting immediately blinded by a bright light overhead. Janus could feel the leather bindings digging into the scales on his wrists, ankles and tail. He felt much colder than before, had they taken his clothes? They had separated him from the youngling. He took deep breaths preparing himself for whatever came next, surely it couldn’t be worse than anything he and Remus have pulled off in the past, could it? Of course not, the two have done too many destructive things. He’s sure he can pull through!

He heard a door from his right open, he could only see whomever entered once they entered his line of sight he woke up in. 

“Ah, our newest subject has woken up.” This person was wearing a medical uniform and they stared down at him like hunted prey, with a murderous look in his eyes. If Janus had felt safe before, he certainly wasn’t feeling safe now. He felt he had to play it cool, he had too much at stake to slip up in the slightest.

“I take it you're not here for the scenery.” Janus relaxed his face, praying that he was coming off like he didn’t care even with his two hearts pounding in his chest. The doctor said nothing as he continued to fiddle with something. It wasn’t until he felt something being stuck and taped into his arm. When Janus saw the doctors face next did he realize that acting superior wasn’t going to change anything, not even freaking out will do anything. At best it might amuse these freaks.

“Oh, don’t worry Klrunaq. This is the tamest part!” The doctor exclaimed as a sadistic glee spread over the doctor's face.

Janus felt another needle be stabbed into his other arm. There was no way the doctor was already done with the first blood bag, he may not have been able to see the best but that didn’t mean he suddenly lost the passage of time. He heard the door open again as more figures walked around him, he felt one of the guards rubbing his chest as another began pushing his hair back. A gross feeling dropped into the bottom of his stomach as panic began to make his limbs feel floaty. 

He saw one of the guards pick up something in each hand and move back to his body. The smugglers began speaking in a language Janus couldn’t understand, gesturing to various parts of his body. Janus unconsciously began to tense, suffocated by the gazes the room was now directing at him. ‘This is fine.’ He tried to rationalize his growing unease. ‘If these barbarians want to stare like buffoons then that’s on them.’

He could feel something cold be placed between some of the scales on his chest. Before Janus could tell what they were doing, he felt a harsh yank followed nearly instantaneously by flaring pain. He couldn’t hold in his scream, as he felt liquid slowly pooling and dripping off his body. He hadn’t realized his eyes were closed until one of the guards grabbed his jaw and pressed his head back against the table. Dangling over his face was a chunk of his scales, held in the jaws of some skinning device. They were going to skin him alive. The shaking began outside of his control, as he stared up in horror at his own flesh.

And soon he felt another yank, more ripping, more shredding to his body. With each forced shed he screamed himself raw that much more, his whole body tensed more than ever before. It felt worse than picking up glowing iron, worse than any shot he’d taken before. The skinning felt so much worse against sensitive skin. The feeling was so bad the sound couldn’t leave his mouth, his searing agony getting worse.

After about the millionth time he could feel his arms weakly fighting the binds, clawing, tugging, anything to get away from the searing hot agony across his torso. 

The smugglers began talking to each other again, Janus didn’t care what they were saying anymore he just wanted it to be over. He felt one of the guards grasp a chunk of his hair and tuck his head to the right, staring at his only exit tauntingly. At first he felt a couple small experimental tugs to his hair. No. Dear god please no, the scales are bad enough- why did they need hair?!

The shredding of the left-side of his scalp left the Klrunaq hoarse, tears having been spilled long before this point but now have begun leaving trails. The manhandling of his head and the continued tearing at his flesh at the seams left him silently sobbing. 

The thudding and burning of his scalp caused, left fuzz across his vision. His ears began to ring against the onslaught. 

It didn’t take long for Janus to begin to feel faint again. He began to slowly close his eyes, desperate to escape consciousness for the first time since arriving there. 

That would be if he didn’t suddenly feel something sharp in his arm jolting him awake. His head was adjusted to stare back into the blinding light overhead. Janus felt like crying all over again, what did they need him awake for in the first place?

He felt the needles in his arms be pulled out, like _that_ was the problem. The guards then grabbed various places on Janus, his arms, legs, tail, even his scalp, all in a painful hold. They had flipped him over. Janus’ shaking and despair-ridden heaving hadn’t let up for a moment.

For a split moment, this felt like some sort of fucked up mercy. The position put pressure against his stinging missing scales. But it also gave him the false illusion, for just a moment, that he was back home with Remus. Back home listening to his partner rambling on about any morbid thing that came across his mind as the two lied on the metal flooring of their ship listening to music. He could even vaguely imagine the _smell_ of something burning in the kitchen as the two laugh over something Remus recalled Roman saying once.

But then the reality was slammed back into him as he felt clamps over one of his spines. Instinct took over as he tried to scamper away, whimpering out. Even as the guards regain their grip on the much larger Klrunaq, all Janus could think about is the hope that Remus will find him. Remus will still find him and- and make all these pricks pay, He’ll be back home before long! 

It didn’t take long for the doctor to re-grip the spine, giggling at the broken-down mess that has become of this much larger deathworlder. Janus let out a strained long choke from the back of his throat. They had twisted the spine, tugging up in small bursts until it tore off. Janus could feel bile quickly rushing up his throat as the pinchers went to the next spine.

“This, dear Klrunaq, is _my_ ideal scenery.” The doctor sighed, beyond satisfied by his actions.

  
  
  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

  
  
  


Janus didn’t even have the energy to fight when he had watched as they burned his previous clothes in front of him, he didn’t even have the energy when he was forced into a similar sack bodysuit as his humanling cellmate. The material was infinitely more rough than he had first suspected, it even had similar stains across the clothes as his little buddy’s. It was like the fabric was intentionally designed to irritate the now-stitched wounds.

Even as the guards held him in a crushing way, Janus still struggled on his feet. Stumbling, tripping, and getting dragged seemed to be part of the process at this point. The shove into his cell was even more painful as he slammed and skidded into where his spines were missing, causing him to tense like a muscle the second he didn't have hands on him. It was only once the door closed and he could hear feet retreating did he let out a wheezed hiss, gently guiding himself to the floor. 

It wasn’t long until he found himself curled on his side, staring at the door. A part of him silently hoping that Remus was ready to bust in any second. This wouldn’t have been the first time either of them had been captured, as their previous line of work resulted in becoming targets themselves. Back then, even recently things felt so much better, but this had to be the worst kidnapping by a landslide. None of the other dangerous situations came even a miniscule to what Janus had felt, is still feeling. If not Remus, then… then at least let Janus hold onto that youngling. He’ll take the youngling at this point but the last thing he wants is to be alone with possible guards nearby. 

It didn’t take long for these thoughts to spiral, Janus may have been able to handle a lot of stressful situations but that didn’t make him invulnerable. As he lied on the cold ground, shaking, and silently sobbing, wishing to be anywhere else. He’d even take being around Remus’ obnoxious twin for the rest of time if it meant he wasn’t at risk for him to bleed out. If it meant he wasn’t stuck with reexperiencing that agony.

The cell door reopened, Janus peaked his head up slightly then slowly rose himself leaning on his arm, far too weak to defend himself at this point. The guard had dragged the humanling by his upper arm, dragging the little one’s feet behind as the guard practically chucked the young at him. Janus wrapped his arms around the young upon instinct. The young was sniffling, then breaking down in a sob before him and their captors. 

Once the cell door closed, he went to remove the clothes to see if everything was okay. The child wailed upon Janus touching the tie alone. Janus didn’t need to check anyways, the irritation across the youth’s stitched scalp said enough for him. Janu’s body aches and migraine’s back, but at least now he knows what the hell happened. He wishes that he didn’t. He wishes that he was just blind to it all at the moment. To his own torture wounds, and the one across this child.

Janus couldn’t look the child in the face, trying his damndest to pull himself together long enough to tell it some pretty lie. A lie about royalty coming to save them, or how Janus himself was somehow going to break them out and save them, or even that someone will report the authorities about this ship and that they’ll be rescued. 

But all he could do was sob with the small child as the two fell to their sides, holding each other in a weakly powered hug. Whilst Janus continued staring at the door, imagining anywhere and everywhere. Especially back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I swear it wasn't in the original plan to go in detail with the harvesting process. I just read my notes about what I wanted the plot to have & I just kinda went with it.
> 
> This isn't to say that this is the end of Janus' torment, we still have at least one more chapter to go into regarding that and a little in the fourth. Don't worry this won't make up the whole fic, just getting the basis out of the way.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this one!


	3. The Survival of Shredded Scales from Metallic Spiders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning!: TW for Graphic Violence, Body Disfigurement, Brutality, and More Crying.
> 
> Again, if this is too much for you then please wait for chapter 4 to be released before continuing if you'd like to skip this part!

Janus is sure that Remus is gonna bust this cell open any moment now, he _has_ to! Otherwise-

... 

Remus was going to find him, and then they can go on and pretend none of this ever happened. They can head back to the way things were before he’d been captured.

Each forced harvesting left the Klrunaq feeling more numb than the last, only to find his only sense of _safe_ being with this small humanling. While the youths stitching hasn’t been given a chance to heal, hasn’t come back not breaking down crying, the child would always cling to him when either of them needed comfort. These monsters would always harvest them at the same time, it was never a case of one being harvested while the other was forced to wait. With every harvest they had drained them both, then left them alone together to patch each other up, in a sense. 

This didn’t follow that pattern.

The slot where the guards would shovel in their slop- _food_ , this time seemed to open to nothing. It was odd, watching it sit open like that. That upsetting feeling from when he first heard the wheezing crawled up his spine, _oh god no_. 

He could barely see the small dart land directly in his arm. The suddenness caused him to yelp out, startling the young next to him. He could hear the guards cackling from the other side as they finally closed the flap, he nudged the young away hoping to keep them from doing anything more to at least him. The dart fell out as Janus shuffled around more.

Janus swallowed, suddenly feeling faint. This wasn’t fair, none of this was fair. 

This kid shouldn’t be forced to watch this, he shouldn’t even be here. _Neither of them should be here dammit!_ Janus felt himself lying against the freezing metal. His body felt far too floaty than the normal that surrounded him. Not even the patting to his face from the tiny humanling provided any grounding, the look of pure fear and panic on his face making Janus want to cry. The only thing he could tell was happening was being dragged out of the room as the youngling screamed behind him.

Why couldn’t he do more?

  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

Janus jolted awake to the sound of shouting, the ground below stuck as concrete and coarse dirt. The air caused Janus to choke and stumble onto his legs, swaying slightly. He was in the middle of a battle arena, with criminals and smugglers hollering down at him, he could make out a couple demands out of some. His drugged mind and sore body couldn’t piece together _why_ he was there, he felt like he knew but couldn’t place it. Wait, did Remus bet him to do something again while drunk? He chuckled a little to himself at the thought, he couldn’t wait to see him after. The sound of an announcer seemingly shouting gibberish as the crowds entered a frenzy.

He heard an intensive thumping behind him. it sounded rapid and approaching _fast!_ He did the only thing he could think of in that moment and dove to the side, slamming his wounded arm into the ground. When he shakily rose his head from the ground he froze, horror and panic filling his every limb. They didn’t send in another alien, they sent in a fucking R-1852 Buffoon. It’s spidery limbs and rotating lenses stared right through him, the bot clicking it’s mechanical limbs as it rapidly moved along the arena- climbing amongst the chain mesh acting as one of several protective layers for the audience. He wanted to scream. 

Buffoon’s, unlike on the deathworld Earth, were known in shadier sectors of the universe for being _military machines_ that were used on _civilians_. In fact the only civilians that seemed unfazed by them but rather violent… He’ll never understand humans, even if he has one as a cellmate…

The spider rearranged and shifted its mechanical eyes as Janus stared at the bulky metal killer, suddenly wishing that his captors stuck to the skinning. The thing dashed up the metal wall, the grating noise scaring Janus more than anything that’s been thrown at him up until now. It wasn’t until it was too late that Janus realized the demons intent to crush him as it reached above him. Janus could only think to run, run as far from this thing as possible. The slam of the death bot into the ground nearly sending Janus flying with chunks of rubble, the blocks bashing Janus as he rolled. Debris flying around suffocating him further.

The audience laughed at the display, sadistically amused at the near death. Janus tried scanning around the arena for any sort of exit, only to spot a knocked over rack of flimsy weapons. He knew none of them would be able to cause any damage to the thing’s panels, but at the least it’ll feel better than having nothing at all! The Klrunaq flung himself off the ground and sprinted with all his might to the display, only to feel his tail grabbed from behind as he fell to the ground. Suffocating out a cough as the open wounds from the harvesting burned mixing with the coats land. Glancing behind, the Buffoon had grabbed his tail in it’s mechanical claws. Janus could only dig his dullen and cracked claws into the dusty soil as he was quickly dragged, stinging and tearing at his exposed scales across his arms and legs against the ground. He could only shriek in pain at the open wounds mixing with the arena’s fumes of death.

Janus couldn’t suppress his scream as the bot slammed him into the ground, again, and again, and _again_. The air beat out of his lungs and sore spine leaving him wheezing, his tail getting twisted and bent unnaturally leaving his tail in a bruising and burning agony. Janus could swear he could see a couple of his jawline horns fly away as he was being thrown about. His swelling body suddenly went twirling airborne when he felt a horrific snapping in his tail, getting slammed into the case he was trying to reach. Janus couldn’t hold back the tears as he stared at the missing end of his tail, his mouth wide in a silent scream as he shook. After the third attempt at sucking in an inhale, did he find his hands on something in the pile. 

Janus didn’t think he’d survive this fight. He didn’t think he’d see Remus again. That somehow broke his heart more than anything this place has thrown at him.

The Buffoon was leaning over him trying to corral Janus, he was losing feeling in his legs and was becoming light headed. He could feel his leg be trapped in it’s grasp, his instincts taking over when he felt a slight tug. He drove the weapon into one of the crevices of the legs, causing the whole thing to freeze up and vibrate at the strain.

Janus took his chance and kicked his leg free as he stumbled back to his feet to flee. Panic at getting grabbed again, feeling numb and suffocated in his ribcage. For a moment he could hear a buzzer along with the crowd seemingly booing him, even having a rock thrown at him. Finally looking back, he saw the machine seemingly shut off based off the now blackened lenses, but wasn’t about to get closer to find out. 

Guards suddenly rushed out, more dart guns then the one from before in his cell. Even as Janus tried to raise his hands in surrender to avoid the need for darts, he felt at least three different places where the darts punctured him. The grasp of unconsciousness grabbing him much faster, as did the searing pain across his whole body from the blood loss and injuries. Him slamming into the ground as he passed out just to add to his growing collection.

  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

He could feel warm liquid dripping near him, the sound of sobbing slowly coming back to him. He struggled opening his eyes, only to be displayed a distressed Youngling. His bleach hair sticking to the corners of his face as his pinkish eyes continued painting tears. The look of fear and despair should never be there yet…

Janus shakily pushed himself up and looked across his body, just now noticing the thicker bandages. The lump covering where nearly half his tail was before, the tape-like material around his torso, only now registering his own wheezing as he breathed, Janus couldn’t keep his tears in as he looked at it all, especially the smallest spots of red still spotting past his bandages. The broken-down cry that passed his lips as he felt where his tail had been before, what was left tucking up between his legs like a lost young, and the numb feeling leaving a decent chunk of the pain gone left him feeling as trapped as that Buffoon made him feel. 

A small hand had shakily laid over his own, the child staring at the lump himself like he’d seen a ghost. Tears still fell down the child’s face, even with Janus gently patting the child’s back now as he leaned against the wall. Janus didn’t want this to stick with the child, he could only hope. Hope is something Janus is running out of.

Remus would’ve known how to cheer a child up from something like this or at least get them to laugh a little. Hell, he would’ve literally lit the cell up.

…

Who was he kidding, the chances of Remus finding him- let alone busting him out, were practically infinitesimal. It isn’t like Roman, Patton, or Logan would help either. Roman has never been shy about his disdain for him and any deathworlders, Patton would always avoid eye contact like he would become tainted if he did, and Logan…

He wouldn’t want to see any more scientists for a while if he were to get out, thanks.

The more Janus thought, the closer he began to hold the young, the more he held it closer, and closer. The lack of energy and the burning of energy crying has left the duo exhausted, the two reluctantly fell farther and farther into that comfy haze of sleepiness, before sleep took claim of them once more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The more I write for this, the more I question why I'm making this so brutal compared to my normal writing. I still don't have a solid answer for that.
> 
> I have no clue if I've already posted today but I wanted to post this regardless.


	4. The Last Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning! TW for child abuse and child neglect. If you can't handle it then please cease reading or wait for later chapters.
> 
> If I'm missing any triggers please feel free to tell me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea if this has more angst then I've been letting on in the last two chapter's notes...
> 
> Can't see this going wrong!

His previous numbing from the painful harvesting process has been growing into an endless well of dread from the arena’s. Ever since that fight with that Buffoon mech, the fear of an inevitable death had been looming over him. The battles have continued, each one leaving him more terrified than the last. He doesn’t know how long he’s been there, all he knows is that the scars he’s been collecting hasn’t slowed down. Nor has the harvesting of his scales and hair, he hasn’t seen a mirror in a while. He can only imagine the scarring that’s begun over his face, how the scales aren't going to grow back properly ever anymore, how his long hair had gone from lush to some fucked earth hairstyle and how matted it’s become. Don’t even get him started on his default walking, from the little he’s tested within the cramped cell he’s lost enough tail to need a cloned replacement, or a mechanical end- whichever he can get his hands on really. His spikes left in a similar state, he never thought he’d feel so  _ naked  _ without them there. 

The humanling’s stitching range has spread, it seems that the skin is suffering damages from constant sewing across it, as it has begun to swell with possible infection. The youth always had a slim sense of grime build up, the hair oils, the mucus buildup, the damage present in the nails, things that were there when he had arrived. But now the grime has gotten to the point where not only does he seem constantly uncomfortable, but the fact that most of it Janus can’t do anything about. He couldn’t tell what the little guy was thinking, all he could tell was that he seemed a lot more clingy to him after the first battle. Janus was impressed by this as he didn’t know any life could get clingier than when the two first met. 

The halls outside of the cell were usually quite quiet, outside of whenever one or both of them needed to be transferred from place to place that is. In those instances he can usually pick up the sound of rushing footsteps getting louder. These rushing footsteps sounded different, less heavy and more  _ fleshy _ . The fact that they rushed towards them made it seem like their cell had just ran past, but this hall hasn’t been used as a crossway before so why now?

Could that have been…?

No, no that couldn’t have been Remus trying to bust them out. There would’ve been a lot more thumping of guard feet if that was the case.

He decided to go back to ignoring it, focusing on trying to rub off as much gunk as he can from a half asleep youth. As he gave up trying to scrape the greasiness from his hair, the door  _ slammed  _ open. The two physically startled at the sudden action, tensing as they waited for the guards to start grabbing at them. Only, no guards came through the door. Janus wasn’t sure if this was some sick trick or not, regardless neither moved. Not until they heard the speaker make an announcement.

“To anybody still in their cell, the smugglers have been tied down and have been exported off the ship. Any and All footage they had gathered is still in their database, It’ll be used in their court case before the galactic head-court of sector 809-Q. It is safe to move about the ship. We are having soldiers searching each cell to see if there are any too injured to move or anybody still left, they will send you to the nurses office. If you have anything taken and you want to see if it’s intact, please head to the captain’s quarters. If you need to gather extra food then please head for the cafeteria. There are over five-thousand mini ships and traveling packs in the loading dock for anybody ready to leave. Thank you!” With that, the overly cheery voice ended the message.

Janus slowly stood, picking his cellmate up as he carefully stepped towards the door like it was boobytrapped. He stared into the blackness of the hall for a moment, tucking the young’s head to him in case anything was to happen. He very quickly darted his head out of the doorway, peeking both ways down the hall. He couldn’t see anything, even the slight glow from their cell didn’t provide much in the way of vision for him. He just had to head down one of the two paths and hope that he gets to where he needs to be, wherever that would be exactly. Getting to the ships would be ideal, but they will definitely need to stack up on food. He’ll just head in the direction he heard the fleshy feet going, hopefully he’ll get some assistance.

The hall seemingly went on forever, Janus’ slow walking and uncomfortable walk not doing him any favors. Something suddenly flung open to their right, blinding the duo and forcing out a simultaneous instinctual  _ hiss _ . When Janus looked over his arm, he saw nearly hundreds of other aliens in the same sack jumpsuit the deathworld duo were wearing. An Officer spotted the two, seemingly shocked to see them. He briskly walked over, clearly trying to keep from startling them. “There’s two more, an adult klrunaq and an infant human. Sending them to the medic now.” He relayed into his communicator as he reached them.

“Hey, I'm Officer Sloan. We were sent due to an S.O.S, we’re now trying to get everyone processed and sent on their way. I’m gonna escort the two of you just to make sure no one gets lost.” The Officer Explained, clearly trying to carry optimism as he explained. Janus felt weary about the idea of someone following them, having dealt with enough ‘supervision’ as it was. “I take it almost everyone here’s been processed then?” Officer looked him up and down briefly. “Yes, we’ll need to head to the nurses station first. If you could follow me, please?” The officer asked in a caring voice.

Janus fully knew that this guy was just doing his job, but he couldn’t keep himself from feeling scared about all the ways doing so could lead him to a different cage. But he was too fatigued to fight anymore so he reluctantly followed as close as possible, even if he was nearly two heads taller than this guy. He didn’t dare lighten his hold of the child the entire walk. 

  
  
  
  


Janus stared at the paper in his hands, hands shaking with wide eyes. It was the check-up he and the humanling had just completed. While it allowed him the current date, which he figured out he was there at  least  three weeks, that wasn’t his focus. Janus had already suspected a few of these, new tail, dehydration, infection, physical scarring, a couple missing jawline horns, some foreign particles in his lungs- he was expecting these ones and his paper held no surprises. The treatment in response had been quick in response, even got a new cloned tail. It’s slight coloration difference and shape incapable of hiding what had happened but it helped immensely, even if it was a bit sensitive. 

The youngling however… The infant got diagnosed with a couple things he was expecting, oculocutaneous albinism, severe physical injuries, even severe infection. Janus wasn’t prepared for the list of missing organs the child had, a missing lung, a missing kidney, missing tonsils, and a missing spleen. They said it was a miracle that he wasn’t dead. The nurse they had looked on the brink of crying himself. The doctors couldn’t even clone any new organs for him, his body too small and doctors not having enough data or DNA from the humanling or other humans for a safe replacement. The youth had been practically placed in an emergency AID capsule during medical treatment as Janus could only stare, helpless to the damage.

How many organs had they taken by the time he’d been placed in that cell? How many of his organs could he have saved had he fought just a little bit harder? How far from death could he have kept the child had he not given up as often? He swallowed a lump in his throat as he hugged the babbling child, blissfully unaware of the extent of the damage his little body has been forced through and will be stuck with indefinitely. He raised his hand up towards the nurse like he was in elementary school again, he had to know.

“Where will they take him?” Janus asked, his voice dying at the end. He couldn’t look him in the eyes, this isn’t about Janus- it’s about this wonderfully strong baby. The nurse looked worried and confused, “What do you mean? Do you not want him?” Janus snapped his gaze to the nurse, hope flooding his chest and causing his eyes to water. Was this nurse implying what he thought he was implying? Considering the last few weeks where they were all each of them had. “I’d love to have him-” the nurse cut in with a sigh of relief, “I figured that considering how you haven’t left his side since the two of you came in. Based on his documentation, he doesn’t have a legal name and any of the captors that have gotten attached to any of the captured young just need to fill out some specific documents and they could take the young with them in the specified mini ships.” Janus held the adoption pad, a couple tears falling loose. He’s known this little guy since he was captured, he now held the fate for the rest of this kid's life.

_ “We would  _ not _ name a baby Leslie, Remus.” The grevnjii pouted at his outright refusal, not seeming all that upset in the first place. “Well then, what were you thinking Gambles?” Janus looked up at the ceiling of their ship for a moment, leaning against his partner as he silently contemplated a good one. “How about Rattles?” His partner cackled out at the notion, folding in on himself, knocking his beanie off in the process. “Rattles?! What’re you naming, a baby or a pet?” The six-armed alien asked, wiping a tear from his eyes. Janus felt a bit riled by that, “Well at least I’m not trying to name this metaphorical baby after that earth literature ‘Dante's Divine Comedy’!” He defended, his hair puffing out of the slicked back look it had. Remus always seemed to find that cute, he never got why, but he was glad about that nonetheless. Said partner seemed to have gone wide eyed for a moment with some sort of realization. “How about Virgil? After Virgilius?” _

“Virgil,” Janus whispered. The humanling seemingly distracted by the string connecting the pen to the pad, giving a chased kiss to the thick scar along his hairline now.

_ “Hmmm… I find it acceptable, at least it isn’t Dante.” Janus concluded to himself, examining his pampered claws. “Yeah, you’d probably take the name for yourself if it wasn’t Janus.” Remus jokes, nudging his head into janus' side. The klrunaq dramatically placed his hand onto his chest as he scoffed exaggeratedly at his partner, “I would  _ not! _ ” Remus just cackled at the reaction, pulling Janus into the pile of pillows and blankets with all his arms and nuzzling into Janus’ scales. _

Janus found himself hugging into Virgil, the humanling.

_ His  _ Humanling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of the smuggler torture section of this fic! Hooray, now onto the slightly more light-hearted part!
> 
> these next few chapters are gonna be fun to make.
> 
> Yeah Virgil wasn't having the best time either, Janus only now finds out to what extent. 
> 
> The more I type out a description for Janus' alien appearance the more I think he looks like an anthropomorphic bearded dragon with puffy hair and some mild snake tendencies. Maybe a dash of lizard behavior here and there.


	5. Pulling it together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is literally a shopping chapter, there isn't much to it aside from that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! TW for malnutrition (hinted), and for a Panic Attack.

The shower he’s getting now that Virgil’s taking a nap may be reassuring that his son is still in the facility, all the gunk that’s been building up between some of his scales and the bacteria that had started frowning in his hair being scrubbed out with hot water? Blissful of a feeling. He didn’t realize how long it had truly been from a proper wash until the water first rushed over him, nor did he realize the release of a held breath as his still strained and sore muscles seemed to melt under the water’s jets. Janus merely stood there and thought as he scrubbed his fingers through his uneven hair, the feeling being a lot more… Alone than what he’s used to.

The bath he gave Virgil earlier was certainly interesting, as he wasn’t even sure Virgil knew what a bath  _ was _ . This thought seemingly being the case when he had tried placing the poor thing in the bathtub only for him to hold one of his larger horns along his jaw with a death grip practically dragging his face into leaning into the tub. Pure panic followed as his baby began breaking down and crying. Even with all his calling to the little guy, trying to reassure him that he was safe, that didn’t stop him from downright sobbing whilst his nose began to leak mucus. So perhaps the bath was just too large for Virgil? The only other washing container was the sink, but were human young even bathed in sinks? Well, it isn’t like he has many alternative options, and leaving the child in his filth isn’t an option. Fuck human tradition at this point, this baby was getting raised by a Klrunaq and... It turns out, he seemed to be a lot calmer with the sink. The soap bubbles and water still freaked him out but within the sink, it was like it was a lot less  _ everywhere _ , the body sponge was a lot closer, the edges were a lot closer, even Janus was left closer- likely adding to Virgil’s calmer reaction. All that remained then was a slightly antsy and confused baby, as Janus carefully washed the extra oil and gunk from the baby as best he could, not wanting to accidentally tear the skin as many human parents had expressed fear of before when in his presence. Virgil’s leaning into Janus’ scrubbing of soap into his scalp wasn’t a big surprise, he’d often pick at the biggest chunks of filth and scratched at his scalp when on the smuggler ship. The time it took for Janus to begin detangling the large knots in his hair, however, left him a bit panicked. As when he finally pulled Virgil out of the water and into his arms the baby's hands and feet had shriveled up. Janus’ eyes went wide, keeping an extra grip on the baby with his tail even if it felt weird against the baby’s pale skin. Oh shit, oh  _ fuck _ ! What did wrinkling humans mean? Did he use a dangerous soap without realizing it? Was there something lining the sink causing this?  _ Did his baby’s bodily liquids drain into the sink?! _ He had to look into this right now. He couldn’t risk any option as he gently dried every inch of the little one, unaware if there’s any other wrinkly anywhere else and not wanting to risk tearing off the delicate flesh. Even as he held his hand, the skin felt far too frail for his liking. He didn’t hesitate to search the largest database on human information possible, searching for instances where human skin wrinkled in water… It- It was normal? It was caused by water seeping between the surface level of the skin and was apparently normal… Why did humans seem intent on having smaller attributes from so many other alien species? This was a textbook Narjinkles!

The feeling of pure clean ran over him as he finished drying off, but now merely stared at the lump of rot that was his clothes. Now that Virgil was clean and napping without that sack at the moment, Janus wasn’t blind to how they’ll need to go out and get some clothes. Something less…  _ Worn down _ , to put it lightly. And based on how quick Janus was to go straight to the docks after finishing the papers for the boy, they’ll need to restock practically right away. Janus had to clench his teeth as the fabric rubbed up against his back, momentarily taking him somewhere he knew he wasn’t. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to touch this texture the same way anymore. He hated it even worse when Virgil cried out a whine at the mere sight of it, wanting to never touch the cloth ever again either.

  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

  
  


Being able to eat anything that wasn’t concentrated vitamin slop was a win in Janus’ books, even if they were in a random market place in the middle of nowhere. Janus definitely isn’t regretting choosing the weird bunfarliss berry shake over the beetle surprise Remus would’ve loved to share with him, probably wasn’t even the right shop for that anyways. The drink itself was far too mushy and sweet for his liking, unlike the slight crunch he enjoyed from that beetle surprise. At least Virgil seemed to like his drink, especially since the kid hasn’t properly closed his mouth in nearly a whole minute since having his one sip and had started his desperate attempt at getting another from Janus’ hands. Janus chuckled at the display, being reminded of the home bringing forth a warm smile. Although he wasn’t entirely sure why the shop insisted on putting a much harder straw in Virgil’s kiddie cup, it wasn’t like he had a beak so the interaction was quite odd. There were quite a few foods Virgil would stare at curiously at but there were others that the boy hid his face from, whether it was from fear or disgust it was hard to tell with some. No matter, not even half would end up in the boys' meals anyway. 

The stands willing to sell to them so far have been too afraid to kick them out have been a blessing so far, as Janus has finally gathered enough food to get the hell out of that market place. That was until he spotted a booth. He paused for a moment, should he try calling Remus? Who knew where he was in the galaxy and he didn’t want to start unintentionally going around in circles. Janus took Virgil and walked into the small booth, desperate just to make sure the energetic alien was alright, the last time he saw him was on their ship after all and he wanted to make sure the damage wasn’t too severe. Janus had to put the market bags down as he fiddled with the worn-down communicator.

_ Ring!  _ Janus’ tail twitched anxiously when Remus didn’t answer on the first ring, perhaps he was asleep?

_ Ring!  _ Janus put Virgil between his feet to give the little guy a break from being held for a little bit, poor things getting a bit restless.

_ Ring!  _ Come on Remus, it isn’t like he’s stuck in a marketplace only a couple of days free now and in need of confirmation that he’s okay! 

_ I'm Sorry, the person seems to be unavailable at this time, you could either leave a message after the beep or call in at a later time.  _ Janus froze, unsure what to do with this information. Was Remus just not home?... Was he taken on that smuggler ship too? Then- then doesn't that mean he…? No, no Janus can’t think about that. Janus had to focus on getting everything together. He has to focus on Getting himself and Virgil in a safer environment. The first thing on that list would be to blend in, even just a little bit more.

  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

  
  


First things first were buying something less grotesque. Because no, Janus wasn’t bothered by the stares that came from passersby. He wasn’t even bothered by the grown adults practically running past the two of them like they were at fault for how they looked at the moment. This Market wasn’t exactly known for clothes, so heading to the next solar system had to be their next best bet. Truth be told that this solar system likely had plenty of markets for clothing, but it was very unlikely to have had clothes tailored to both human young and klrunaq adults. Heading to a solar system with a more intense clash of varying cultures was much more likely to have clothes for them both. That didn’t make him feel any better as he looked through a Klrunaq shop looking at the bodysuits, just as something to start with. Being gone for a few weeks and with several changes opened up how he felt about showing his back and tail, he had carried pride in his spines and tail once before but… Having missing chunks where some were with others chipped while his tail was so disfigured? He didn’t feel the slightest bit confident in his appearance at the moment. He might just need to go with something a bit more  _ coverage _ , if it meant that he could feel somewhat comfortable again then dammit he was going to do it. 

He started out with four bodysuits. Janus could vaguely remember once how Remus intentionally bought several skin-tight suits, only for Remus to reveal that they were specifically for Janus, and he never really went back to any other type of bodysuits because of how they felt against his scales. The first was a simple solid black with a simple circle back, the second was ash grey without sleeves with a diamond open back, and exposed toes, the third was an earth honey color as it lacked legs but had those weird thumb-catchers humans seemed to like and had an octagonal back opening, whilst the final one had an onyx blacktop but gradients down into cream as it had exposed toes and heels with a triangular back opening. He knew that he needed to get a couple of different jackets to keep an extra layer of warmth. The first covering was a charcoal grey cloak that covered his back and had a hood, it seemed as comforting as it could get. The other was a jet black poncho that, while wasn’t long, did cover the biggest parts of his back. While the final jacket was long, earth butterscotch, and had a popped collar as the coat met his knees. While earth didn’t always add something new to most space attributes, the variation they introduced was always intriguing to most aliens. So don’t blame him if he grabbed an extra pair of pants as well, especially if said pants happen to be oil black and didn’t have a tail opening so it couldn’t go over his hips properly. The knee-high boots that he also bought brought some extra coverage too, even if it didn’t have the best heel.

Neither of their species was exactly known for the strongest self-body temperatures. It was oddly the best opportunity to experiment with what Virgil would like, as so far the young didn’t seem interested in many of the more flashy colors young kids liked. If anything it seemed like the brightness was a strain on the child. He had to open his pad to see if eye-sight problems were common in Virgil’s branches of medical diagnosis. It turns out that yes, his baby boy very likely has photophobia, or at the very least light sensitivity. As Janus was searching the baby section he was growing more irritated, none of the clothes were just dull colors. It was either black or bright colors, why did so many shops insist on making one young flashy in the first place? The only time that’s helpful is for the parents to spot their child, it wouldn’t help a child in the slightest if they were trying to get away from a criminal or some other danger! 

Janus had relented and picked up one of the solid black short-sleeved baby bodysuits until Virgil was leaning forward towards one of the purple bodysuits. It was a purple bodysuit but it had black bands on the limbs with a little black earth spider on the front,  _ Remus would’ve loved this _ . Soon Janus found himself holding a black jacket with faux fur on the inside and a second smokey grey jacket that had shorter sleeves and seemed breathable. The poor Klrunaq was having a hard time with not buying far too many things to layer his child in. Soon Janus had realized that a pair of clunky space boots and baby army boots were in with Virgil’s things. As Janus was looking around he had found a half-mask, one that would cover most of the scars and disfigured scales under the silicone triangle panel. He didn’t hesitate to purchase it, putting the thing on even as he was carrying the bags and Virgil back out of the store.

By the time they had gotten back to their ship the planet's sun was setting, and considering how cranky Virgil was and tired Janus felt it was likely around the time they should eat then sleep. Janus still hadn’t regained his energy, the slop from before not really providing all the nutrients either of them needed and that sleep was typically forced to begin with. The first thing Janus did once they got inside was changing out of the rags they’ve been forced to walk around with all day, he found it appropriate to wear the honey bodysuit with the black pants, the combination quite cozy considering how the heat was at a high temperature inside. As usual, he placed Virgil without the tags and just his diaper, Remus would’ve had pride in that, the chaotic fool probably would’ve joined in if he saw that the baby was getting away with it. The basic meal of klrunaq mumanduj beetles and human white rice filling him up quickly, even with more leftovers than he’s used to when making it. At least Virgil was able to finish his bottle before promptly falling asleep on the small sofa, the poor thing likely exhausted from the day the two had. Janus had gently picked up the little one and brought him along as he settled into his resting pod, he hadn't exactly broken his habit of protectively holding the youth while he slept. He’ll need to find another booth within this new section of space, he’ll try calling Remus again. If that doesn’t work then he’ll see if Remus went to stay with Roman, even if the idea is definitely something he’d like to do. Especially with how admit the dramatic silver tooth has always been to Remus not even dating Janus, let alone how he imagines Roman has been celebrating the fact Janus was abducted in the first place.

  
  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

  
  


Janus could only stand and stare at the large room that made up this fabric market's communicator booths. To say it was a bit intimidating would be an understatement. Normally Janus would’ve just bought a proper communicator to carry around or have gotten a mask that had such a thing, to begin with, but he had to make do with the limited resources he had available. As he walked briskly towards one of the booths the sounds of shouting from further down were quite… distracting. 

It sounded like Remus, but he couldn’t tell for sure. It was hard to make sense of since others seemed to be yelling over whoever it was. It was impossible to be Remus, Remus never yelled like this one seemed to. They sounded angry, distraught, desperate, it was like despair and denial had consumed whoever it was. Janus could understand the feeling, having drowned in it more than he’d thought before any of this had begun. Remus had never reacted with such emotion before, he’d always react with curiosity or excitement over a bad situation. Sure, Janus had seen when his partner was protective, had even seen when someone struck a nerve a bit too close for comfort. But never with whatever the stranger had.

Janus’ focus was forced back when Virgil started squirming in his arms, whimpering at the noises around them/ Janus tugged Virgil’s grey hood over his eyes, hoping that it would help soothe the overwhelmed child. He won’t bother with a call first, he’ll just search for the ship’s current planet. This wouldn’t exactly help him find his home ship but it was a start. Janus sat Virgil between his feet again, the little child still keeping the hood over his eyes. It wasn’t difficult for Janus to use the booth to find the planet his ship was on, he played the role of a mechanic on their ship for a reason. The ship was… within this solar system? What? Why would Remus be taking their ship here? He decided to check to see if roman’s ship was nearby either. Turns out they’re both here, and based on the data he’s reading Roman’s following after Remus’ ship, the trails seemingly lining up. This wasn’t what Janus had expected. He set up a call to Remus’ ship.

_ Ring! _ He looked down to make sure Virgil was still with him, but he seemed to be looking at something behind them. Not too odd considering all the new things from the last couple of days.

_ Ring! _ Something  _ bit  _ him, on the sensitive end of his tail no less! Janus couldn’t hold in a grunt at the sudden attack, gritting his teeth. He could hear a smacking sound followed by hissing.

_ Ring! _ Janus looked back long enough to see Virgil by his tail as some obnoxious equally pale flutsra scurrying away from his young. Virgil lightly petted the slight indent where Janus could see a couple of bite marks.

_ I'm Sorry, the person seems to be unavailable at this time, you could either leave a message after the beep or call in at a later time.  _ Janus sighed, feeling antsier at the second call attempt unanswered. But if he wanted to make sure Remus would stay put he’ll need to tell Remus his overall location. Janus pressed the button to record.

Janus put on his most nonchalant face he could, not wanting to possibly panic his partner if he were to see this. “Hello Remus, it’s me. I just wanted to call and tell you that we both seem to be in the Fringaurd Solar System, and since I don’t have my communicator on me I can’t readily just find our ship. It would be best to stay within this area so that way we could find each other easier, just giving each other our locations might be a bit… risky at the moment. I’m sure to see you in the near future dear, bye!~” Janus quickly ended the call, he let out a huge sigh. Suddenly anxious about what he was about to do. He checked his tail to see if Virgil was still there, the little one holding the end to his long coat looking around. Janus put his foot beside Virgil, suddenly wary of the people outside the booth.

He called Roman’s ship, trying to pull himself together for the likelihood that someone will pick up this time. There were three people on that ship, he’d be surprised if no one answered. 

_ Ring! _

_ Ri-  _

“Hello! This is- JANUS?!” The vixcove gawked wide-eyed at him through his round visor, his freckles glowing white through the monitor. Janus wasn’t expecting the unfiltered level of a shock coming from Patton of all people, he expected either confusion or excitement at his sudden call but shock? Had something actually happened? “Nice to hear from you too, sorry to disappoint but-” Patton cut him off, turning away to the door on Patton’s end “LOGAN!” The shout caused Janus to flinch, the scream bringing back some uncomfortable thoughts. Janus forced himself out of the mindset when Logan came into view, smiling awkwardly at the aquatic alien staring at him. “Janus, where are you right now?” Ah, Logan still is the one to cut straight to the chase, greatly appreciated in most situations but the furthest thing from comforting at the moment. Logan seemed a bit more panicked pressing at his keyboard, not even waiting for Janus to answer. “Well, it’s nice to see some things haven’t changed in my absence. I’ll have you know that I’m in the Fringaurd Solar System at the moment, I’ve already left a message for Remus that I plan on staying in this solar system until we can find each other again.” Logan’s oil head gill folding itself strenuously as he typed, focused on something that Janus couldn’t. Patton peeked out from behind Logan, redirecting Janus’ focus. “Where have you been? You’ve been gone for weeks!” The dark grey alien asked, shaking a bit as he glanced over Janus in the feed. He didn’t want to talk about it, the less he did the better at this point. Janus shifted himself from his first arm to his other, trying to cover how nervous he felt. “Oh, nothing too grand. I’ll be sure to tell you all about it later on. Now, how has Remus been?” Janus questioned, picking at his claws to try coming off that he isn’t worried. Patton seemed intent on carrying the opposite, which was worrying him. “Remus hasn’t said a thing to us since he called screaming. That was a few weeks ago. It was really scary...” Janus felt his stomach drop at this, Remus called his brother over the abduction? Oh. Oh, Janus freaked Remus out. Patton must’ve caught on as he continued explaining what he knew. “Ever since the call Roman had been following your guy’s ship. Remus hasn’t picked up a single call from us either. I don’t think he’s handling you disappearing well…” Patton’s distraught was feeding into Janus’ growing anxiety. Logan looked back at Janus, sealing the fate for the call. “Alright, I found Janus’ location. We should-” Janus slammed the call off.

Oh fuck. Oh shit. They were going to find them. They were going to be forced back in that cell, They can’t go back!

Janus quickly picked Virgil up, busting through the booth’s door and sprinting for the nearest exit. He didn’t even realize when it sounded like someone called his name. He couldn’t care about the stares he was getting for it. Rushing past corners and leaping over benches, too panicked to even take the time to move around. 

The second he entered the small ship he slammed every door and window shut, forcing everything into lockdown. His breathing was labored and his body felt too light, limbs shaking as he squeezed Virgil close. Virgil’s distressed wailing drawing his mind deeper back into the past few weeks. All he could do was go into autopilot as he shakily brought Virgil to the couch and lied on his side. Virgil nested his head into his arm, as the two held a death grip on each other. Janus had curled around Virgil, the tense fear breaking into sobs of his own, the room feeling a lot darker than it had just a minute ago. The crying didn’t stop for more than an hour, only now realizing how long they’d cry for back in the cell. Then Janus remembered exactly what Logan had said.

Shit. 

He ran off before they could meet up anyway! He didn’t want to go out anymore today, the little outside the two have gotten outside more than they’ve had in literal weeks, and having such a bad freakout left him feeling drained. It couldn’t hurt to spend the rest of today inside. Remus wasn’t responding to any messages, so it’s pretty unlikely that he’s going to hear Janus’ message until much later, if at all. Logan didn’t seem to have much luck either it seemed. But he wouldn’t be surprised if Logan told Roman who told Remus. 

He’s really gonna need to do something to make it up to Remus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, there are a few different things I've been wanting to do that's been bothering me a bit.   
> The biggest is that I wanna start going back to my unspoken rule of chapters being +3,000 words long. It was bugging me a bit in the beginning but that I chalked it up by saying "Well, there's gonna be more chapters later on that I can explore ____ in" but I found that as I added chapters the feeling just kept bugging me more and more.   
> I've gone back to other Space Sides AU's that I was inspired by to see what they did when it came to tags, & I've come to the conclusion that it'll definitely need a few more. Not out of wanting to copy but because I felt adding some of the more significant tags would be beneficial.
> 
> I've also begun using Grammarly, so a lot of the sentences should be more proper than before.  
> Finally, I plan on going back into previous chapters to implement the little Space-Time Skip bar that I added into this chapter, not only just for consistency's sake but just cuz I like it. I've had a little jumpcut thing in my other fic being three bars to symbolize the main OT3 ship focus's and I felt it would be appropriate to add one to this fic, & I remembered that in some places I've seen this text thing Among Us fans would use where they used keyboard symbols to replicate the ejection screen & I thought the way space was replicated was neet so here we are.
> 
> Okay, that's enough rambling about this chapter, thank you if you've read this chapter!


	6. A Less than Graceful Landing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus and Janus finally reunite, with some extra surprises!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning!: TW for Trauma, Graphic Depictions of Violence, & Panic Attacks.
> 
> If I missed any feel free to mention them in the comments!

He released a breath as he fiddled with his suit for the tenth time that morning. He didn’t want to fuck anything up for their possible reunion today. The temperature on the planet seemingly dropped overnight, no matter since there were _plenty_ of planets that did so. He felt the cloak hiding the nasty scar’s just fine, he was just worried about if Remus goes in for a hug. All it took was one bad move and…

He had to concentrate. He had to practice some of the things he wanted to say else he’ll stumble too much and reveal something that he probably shouldn’t if he didn’t want Remus to feel guilt over not having been there. ‘Why wasn’t he there though?’ A thought passed through Janus’ mind, surely Remus would’ve been able to realize this abduction wasn’t the same as the others right? Surely he remembered how Janus wasn’t exactly the muscle of their dynamic, though that might be slightly challenged at this point now that Janus thinks about it.

Janus puts Virgil in his purple bodysuit with black bands and throws on the fluffy black coat, He wasn’t exactly willing to test his kid any further than he has already with how often they’ve been going outside as of late. But he also wanted to try to get his albino child to come off as cute and unsuspecting as possible, suddenly unsure as to how Remus would react to him having adopted a child without him while he was captured. Virgil flopped back as Janus put his clunky space boots on, the baby too young to have proper use of such a tool yet but wanting him to start rather than later. At least he seemed to like hoods though, as the child seemed to like hiding his face in this one when the faux-fur clinging to the child’s skin. 

He didn’t want Virgil to be exposed in the open, if Remus had Roman on his trail then he certainly doesn’t want to risk seeing the reaction Roman would give to Janus having a human young. He had an idea of how to get away with this however, of course, he’d need to be careful with Virgil if he was to pull it off.

_“Good Nebula Remus! Did you really have to aggravate a carnivorous plant or is it your job today to become paralyzed by it?!” This isn’t how this job was supposed to go, they were supposed to take this fruit tree away since this guy hasn’t paid the rent to own such a thing. That would be a lot easier if Remus had not literally jumped into this prickly carnivorous plant and gotten paralyzed from the little flesh-eating needles. Janus stained out a sigh as Remus giggled on the ground, with a small pile of needles to the side that Janus had been able to remove himself, they’ll need to take a trip to the hospital when they are done. Janus had to think quickly, as he couldn’t just leave Remus behind nor could he just not complete getting this obnoxious plant since they still need to buy things to keep their home functioning. Janus took his cloak off and began to wrap Remus in it and tie him to his body. “Ooh! Wantin a vit of fisky fun befoe we get the plant?!” Remus cackled as Janus felt flustered, what standards did Remus take him for? He needed to at_ least _sneak in some fermented berry juice with some harbringer centipeatles,_ then _he’ll consider! Janus straightened as he carefully ran through the greenhouse, keeping his tail wrapped around Remus just in case._

It was hard not to think about that when Virgil was currently hugged against his back, seemingly content with trying to bite one of his smaller spines with little success. They haven’t even left yet and Virgil seemed to want to chew on his back now! Janus could only shake his head in amusement as they walked out the door to the shop, unease flowing over Janus as he walked out.

  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

  
  


The klrunaq couldn’t decide between the three flora he was looking over, he had wanted to get Remus something as a small apology for getting captured in the first place, even if the events were still fuzzy for him. Knowing Remus he’d likely try to eat whatever plant he got him, and he didn’t want their reunion to be spent at a hospital, if the hospital’s night-cycles were like anything he remembered then he wasn’t going to feel the slightest bit safe. So the question then became, which one? None of these plants were exactly in the color either of them likes, and he didn’t think an earth cabbage would be as humorous of a gift as the one on their honeymoon, especially in this situation. He decided to settle on the deep moss night-jasmine and gold lily-cabbage, as that would probably be the best colors to resort to. Janus could feel Virgil’s slight breathing he did whenever the little one slept, a warmth settled over his nerves at the weight covering his back. Janus held the flora with a death grip, as he headed back to the booth he was at yesterday.

A hand slapped against his shoulder suddenly, causing Janus to panic for a moment. “I hope you realize you have a lot of explaining to do!” Janus recognized the gritted voice but remained tense as he slowly looked behind him. There stood one of the two grevnjii twins he’s known longer than he probably should have, Roman. 

The dramatic twin seemed to have dressed down a bit since he’s last seen him. He didn’t seem to be wearing any of his collected shiny stones he seemed to brag about constantly, his eight red eyes seemed slightly baggy, and he usually kept poofy hairs seemed a lot more like Remus’ at the moment. His over-reactions and crown birthmark seem prevalent as ever. The man just looked up at him, one arm holding Janus’ shoulder, one sat on his hip, while the other two sets crossed over the grevnjii. Janus shrugged off Roman’s hand and stood straight, towering over the shorter alien. He tried to feign innocence, suddenly feeling anything but. “I don’t think that’s any of your-” Roman cut him off, as usual. “Do you have any idea what running off has done to Remus?! He hasn’t stopped searching for you since day one!” Janus’s face fell, guilt filling his gut over his doubts of Remus not searching or taking his abduction seriously. Roman looked at his hands, seeing the flora now dangling in Janu’s hand limply. “And did you think some flowers were going to fix this?! Seriously?!” Janus snapped his gaze back to the flora, suddenly regretting picking it up along the way. He shook his head, trying to get back on track. “Where’s Remus?” The red-clad alien threw all his ups up an exacerbation, causing Janus to flinch back which Roman didn’t even notice. “At this point? Who-” there was a sudden bone-crushing thud towards one of the buildings they were standing by. Followed by Remus landing on what could only be assumed was a lead he had.

Janus froze, suddenly scared. Remus usually had a deranged or unhinged look no matter where he went, chaos being his default whenever he did anything. The sight before him wasn’t even the slightest bit close to that. The green-dawning alien had a look of unfiltered wrath seemingly flowing from him, as Remus let out uneven ragged breaths. The look was very quickly changed once he actually looked at him and Roman. Remus’s expression flashed between shocked, worry, relief, and overwhelming joy. Remus was the first to take a step forward, as tears began cumulating in both their eyes. Neither knew when they had begun to hold each other in an embrace, but neither would deny the wounded cries that left them both. Janus felt like a large weight had been resettled in his bones, like having Remus here at all was anchoring him better than anything before this. He really did miss the six-armed hugs only Remus could give, the slight squeeze feeling like reconnecting with a long-time friend. Janus could only hope they wouldn’t wake Virgil with their crying, that would just leave them there for hours more. The only hint he had to Virgil having even registered them was the slight whimpering he could faintly hear, and for the first time since no longer being in his cage, he didn’t feel panic instantly spike at the sound. 

Roman seemed baffled at their display, it seems Remus even has his brother out of the loop. “Wait, why do you have-” Remus let go of his hug with Janus as he stared at his brother, without his usual manic smile but with some… severe anger. This seemed to silence whatever Roman was going to ask. Thank the stars, he didn’t want to talk about anything at the moment anyway, he just wanted to keep Remus here with him. 

  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

  
  


Janus continued to hold Remus’ hand as he guided them through the front door, Remus was worried by how much thinner his partner’s hand felt as they entered. Remus could only stare at how small this ship really was. Truth be told, when Logan had told him that the likelihood of Janus surviving any abduction was extremely low he had only wanted to avenge his love, the one person that… was willing to stay. But now that he knew that he was actually alive, he had to soak in what his life must’ve been for a little while. It was like one of those mini ships he saw prime school students stay in once or twice, except it didn’t seem to have a separate room for sleeping and bathing. He saw some sort of shredded up sacks in the corner like it was supposed to either be hidden or disposed of, He wasn’t sure. But he was a bit confused at some of the… youngling clothes? Why the hell did Janus need youngling clothes?

Wait.

Did… Did Janus…?

There was a sudden whimpering filling the room. Janus seemed to tense at it, turning to Remus with a slightly haunted look. Remus hasn’t felt so confused, worried, and protective over Janus than whenever he had this look. It wasn’t one that popped up often but based on the layers he seems to be dawning at the moment and the new mask he wouldn’t be shocked if it started popping up more often. Even Roman wouldn’t believe that Janus was just dressing this way just for an aesthetic reason. Janus rushed over to the couch when he sat down and began slowly untying the cloth wrapped around his body, it kinda Reminded Remus of the one plant bounty back when-

As soon as enough of the blanket was loosened, a youngling hidden amongst black hoodie fluff tumbled out. The little thing had begun soft crying at this point, Janus twisted back around and slowly picked the young up, carrying the young over to the counter with fear creasing at his partner's face. He felt helpless as he watched Janus rush making something to soothe the child, said child gripping to Janus uneasily. Remus felt nervous as the pinkish-purple eyes of this young looked at him as it cried, suddenly feeling scrutinized by a literal infant. As soon as Janus put a blidnox juvenile bottle towards the young’s mouth, the little thing latched onto it as it let out little cries every once in a while. Janus briskly walked back over to the couch, taking the thing’s hoodie off as it gulped its drink. 

It was a humanling. It wasn’t even any standard humanling either, as it’s entire hair was much closer to Roman’s mostly peach color than any color he’s seen in humans, it’s lack of pigments was also staggering just looking at it. Its pupils seemed slightly red just looking at them. Remus couldn’t ignore how Janus was avoiding eye contact now, suddenly worried. Did someone force him to take this kid? Was this a case of genetic modification? Well, he wasn’t gonna get an answer just staring at the two on the couch, is he? He walked over to the counter to sit on, he didn’t want to intrude on the obvious bubble his partner seemed to be in with this humanling.

“So, you know it’s name?” He didn’t want to start strong, especially since his partner seemed so defensive at the moment. Janus nodded his head quickly. “I named him ‘Virgil’, as we talked about once. Remember that?” Janus’ voice was shaky and quiet, still avoiding looking him in the eye. Remus nodded, remembering that conversation, that conversation was back when they first officially started dating ages ago. Did Janus hold moments like that close while he was gone? Janus let out a puff of air, “I know it’s a bit rash to have adopted without both of us talking it over but… but I don’t think I’d have a clear conscience if I let go of this one.” Janus briefly explained, staring at the ground, not seeming present at the moment. Remus slowly slid off the counter and slowly walked his way to the sofa. He squatted in front of Janus. “Is it okay if I touch your hand boo?” Janus slowly nodded, barely blinking. Remus lightly put his hand on Janus’, scraping his usual energy for something a lot slower. Janus needed to slow right now. Chaos can come when Remus isn’t still scared of Janus disappearing again. He rubbed little circles into Janus’ scales, wanting Janus mentally here for his next request. “Can I hold him?”

Janus seemed to relax a bit more at this, Virgil just stared up at him with little leftover tears from moments ago still drinking from his bizarre bottle choice. Janus slid Virgil into two of his arms, Virgil looking back at him a moment still holding his thumb. Neither alien made an effort to fully disconnect Virgil from Janus, the fact That he was tolerating this alone was already more than Remus was expecting. Most humanling’s seemed scared of his kind, being compared to earth spiders on more than one occasion. Virgil reached up and touched under his nose, this he did expect, since the ones that weren’t scared of him always found his birthmark amusing, comparing it to a “handlebar mustache”, having seen a few humans with them made the comments make much more sense. Having this humanling be part of the few to like him put him at ease. “I’m gonna get all of us matching spandex suits.” Janus chuckled a little at that, resulting in a smile from Virgil even with a bottle in the way.

He knew this next part wouldn’t be easy, since Janus and his new son, Virgil, had been in this odd infinitesimal ship for who knows how long. Janus sat up as he looked over at the sacks in the corner, not making a move to grab them. Remus went over and picked them up, quickly realizing that they had holes throughout them. The texture of the stuff was horrid, he could practically feel his fingers through the fabric, the stains making various places solid lumps. He held it up properly, seeing that they were practically disintegrating bodysuits. When he looked over to Janus for answers, he just stared like he just saw a mass murder. Virgil wasn’t much better, he just sat on the floor staring at the suits, his face puckering a little as the only warning before he started to whimper out a little. He quickly tossed them in the garbage disposal, they wouldn’t be worth anything anyway and if they’re causing distress they don't belong in the crew!

As they entered back into their home Remus finally remembered why he didn’t just walk Janus home with him in the first place. Remus had to look around briefly to remember which damages were from those mother fuckin’ smugglers and which were from him breaking shit in his freakout. The floor was scattered with destroyed machinery and cords sticking out. Huh, those wires never really bothered him before. Guess being a dad just brought out a weird new side of himself that he didn’t know existed until now. Janus continued to hold Virgil as they slowly walked through the home, his humanling holding a finger or two in his mouth, neat! Looking at Janu’s distraught look he realized something he was hoping wouldn’t be the case, especially considering how old their ship is. They’re gonna need a new one. 

  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

This wasn't what he was expecting his first night back with Janus to be like. It’s certainly better than never seeing him again but he was under the impression they’d get to be able to tangle up their arms and tail into a nice lump of tangled limbs, and he was expecting Janus to take his mask and cloak off but one thing at a time. Which would be doable if their son wasn’t sitting between them in bed while Janus’ tail tangles around their youngling. At this rate, they’re gonna wake up as a vixcove necktie rather than as their usual cozy tangles! He puffed a little as he turned to look at the time, way too fucking late. He couldn’t stop himself from glowing in agitation, his glowing dimming slightly at the slight movement out of the corner of his eyes. He looked over to Virgil looking at him through squinting eyes.

The two just looked at each other for a moment. “I blame you for keeping me u-”

_Smack!_

Did- did this baby just slap my arm? Remus could just stare for a moment as the baby looked at him, Remus glowed a bit more. Virgil began to _giggle_ at this, did this kid just have a habit of pissing aliens off, or is it just directed towards him? Remus tried taking some deep breaths, there was no way he was gonna let some baby piss him off!

_Smack!_

Nope. Virgil still giggled.

_Smack!_

Not happening, kid! The giggled continued.

_Smack! Smack Smack! Smack!_

Okay, that last one got him in the face! Remus abruptly sat up, Virgil full-on _cackling_ now, glowing much brighter than he should’ve. “Remus, what the fuck it’s late. Why the hell are you glowing?” Remus pointed at Virgil accusingly, “This one didn’t get the memo not to slap others is what I’m picking up!” Janus just stared at him confused, before he suddenly had a look of realization. Janus just slowly lied down onto his back staring at the ceiling for a moment, worrying Remus. “Jan? Everything okay?” Remus didn’t like the way Janus just kind of resigned like this. “No wonder he wouldn’t stop trying to press all the buttons.” Remus just stared for a moment before looking at Virgil and cackling too. Once Janus falls back asleep, he just stares at the baby between them tracing his tiny fingers along with his glowing bands, needing to pull his hands away whenever he would get curious about his eyes. He went to scratch the kid’s scalp when he felt a jagged line across the kid's head, he pulled the hair up and out of the way slightly only to see a clump of scars along his hairline. Remus felt unnerved by the discovery, the young seemingly picking up on this and staring at him. Remus quickly switched back to smiling, hoping to ease the kid of any more worries, since he seemed to pick up on the smallest of emotional shifts like most of his species 

He’ll need to try asking Janus about the scar in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is the true VIP of this chapter ngl. 
> 
> Yeah, Remus is a spidery humanoid alien, all the better to give hugs and bite people I guess. 
> 
> As for Roman, I wouldn't classify him as unsympathetic in the instance of this chapter, poor guy doesn't know what's going on. All he knows is that Remus didn't handle a lack of Janus well.


	7. A Dash of Brotherly Spite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman invites Remus and his "crew" aboard his ship, things arent as smoothed over as one would think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter has some unsymp Roman, TW for Panic, perceived over-attachment, and crying.
> 
> (crying seems to be a big thing with this story huh?)

He couldn’t help kicking at the loose plaster scattered about as he walked, Janus slugging behind with a still waking Virgil bundled in his arms. Remus began following the routine he usually has whenever they woke up upon seeing the kitchen. He pulls out some velquitz eggs, earth bagels, half a dozen kilvux meat slices, and some ground cocoa beans. He turned to get one of the cookers and some water only to walk into Janus pulling out fruit juice from the cooler. Remus stumbled back while Janus snapped his head towards the lanky alien. Neither said a word as they hurriedly got the things they were searching for. He knew this wasn’t right, that he should ask about his partner’s mask and the scars on the youngling. But every time he opened his mouth to ask it would lodge in his throat like it was forbidden to even ask. Janus would understand his concerns, right? Considering the endless number of times Janus actively prodded every time he had even the slightest scrape, he should feel fine asking Janus about what happened. But even Remus couldn’t deny how different this situation was to every other time, their now suffocating awkwardness making that too aware. Remus released a strained string of air as he slid the cooked food onto a slightly cracked plate, impressive considering how it was sold as non-breakable, and slid the plate in front of Janus with a cup of Cocoa. Janus froze staring at the plate for a moment before glancing up and giving a sly grin, leaning back with a baby in his arms as the little guy chugged his fruit juice like the world was going to collapse if he didn’t. “Thank you, dear. It’s been a little while since someone willingly gave me an actual meal.” He grinned as he began to shovel a bit of the food into his mouth, seemingly groaning a bit commenting on its temperature for a moment before continuing. All he could do was pat his hand as he found himself back at the cooker making his plate, his hand feeling a slight tingle at the hand as he found himself glancing back at Janus. He knew Janus was just trying to carry banter but he couldn’t help but feel…  _ gross _ by his words. He knew he should say something, anything about what happened, make sure Janus was actually okay. Starting with the scars he does know about. Well, at least the ones he found on the baby to start off on.

“Hey, Janus?” The Klrunaq snapped his head towards his multiple green eyes, mouth stuffed with food as a drop landed on Virgil’s hood slightly. “I… I saw, last night, that Virgil has a few patched injuries-“ Janus abruptly stood, adjusting his hold on Virgil. “I don’t know the slightest-“ 

Remus pushed on, suddenly antsy himself about Janus running from him at all. “I don’t need the details! I just-“ 

Janus shifted, cooling his face but unable to keep his tail from twitching a bit. “Remus, it’s fine. We’re both fine, we are home and we should be focusing on other things anyway.” He felt cold at Janus’ deflecting, feeling like his Janus was replaced by the one from when they first met. The Janus that actively denied being anything that wasn’t some suave player, the one Remus had assumed would leave after just twenty minutes on the same bounty mission as him. “Janus-“ 

Remus was cut off by the ship’s communications hub going off, most likely Roman or one of Roman’s partners. Janus beat him to the punch on who was picking up this time, as for once Remus  _ really _ didn’t want to. “You should get that, you know how your brother could get when ignored too much.” Remus let out a puff of air as he headed to the trashed hub, his eyes strained as he fiddled with answering the call so early in the morning with the ship's internal lights still fairly dim. Roman’s face appeared on the other line, various face products still on his face and in his fluffy robe. “Oh, my Nebula! You actually picked up this time! Is everything okay? You haven’t answered for weeks! Why did Janus duck out? What-“ 

Remus knew that his brother wasn’t going to pause to let him answer, and Remus really wanted to get back to trying to get some of these answers himself. “- did Janus do something? Honestly Remus, if he’s going to treat you like this I might as well move you in with me and my mates. I will not tolerate that _deathworlder_ pushing you around just because he’s deadlier than you!” Remus blinked at this, his rage bubbling much faster than usual. He could hear Janus sliding down against the wall to the floor from just beyond the door frame, taking in every word being said. “Shut it, Roman. You have no clue what’s happening right now and the last thing I need is my brother talking _shit_ about _my_ _mate_.” Nearly spitting venom as he added emphasis to remind Roman who he’s even talking about, breathing heavy out of his nostril holes. Roman seemed shocked by this, he couldn’t care less at the moment. He was too pissed about his partner being hurt and being unable to help to even entertain Roman’s typical shit-talking about deathworlders. “Look Roman, the ship’s trashed, pretty sure the engine gave out when landing here, it’s too small now, and we’re kinda limited on supplies at the moment. So if you could avoid being a dick about Janus for once that would help a lot.” Roman quickly nodded, guilt suddenly filling Remus’ veins for snapping at Roman. “Well, you could still move in.” Remus’ eyes twitched and his arms began holding each corner of the communications screen at his lack of including Janus in the offer, fully aware that his brother was doing that on purpose. Roman groaned at Remus’ aggressive shift in body language like a child not getting his way. “Fine, that includes Janus.” Remus let his arms droop slightly, a bit more satisfied with how this was going. He knew he had to bring Virgil up somehow without getting his brother's judgment via a call, possibly dropping them off temporarily. “We actually have a third crewmate now, they share a room with us at the moment.” Remus brought up, hoping Roman didn’t start asking about whether it was a deathworlder crewmate or not, or if this crew mate was even an adult. “Oh, that poor unfortunate soul. That must be traumatizing.” Roman scrunched his face, hand over his chest dramatically. “Eh, if anything the little shit probably got a kick outta cock blocking my scaly companion.~” Remus could hear Janus wetly chuckle for a moment. Janus must’ve already felt like shit, dammit Roman. Remus’ brother made a gagging noise in response before clearing his throat as Logan passed by the screen’s view for a moment. “So I take it you’ll need two beds then? Or do you all share a bed like a proper poly pack?” Remus leaned back, his twin bro could be way too easy to fuck with sometimes. “Yeah we all share a bed, but it’s not for what you think is funny enough.” Roman stared confused at Remus as if he was going to just give the answers he’s looking for. What did he take him for, Logan? Roman spoke up at this point, seemingly already done with their little conversation. “Alright, we’ll send Logan to your ship to pick you guys up and tow your little ship on board until you guys can pull yourselves from… whatever’s going on.” Remus plastered his manic grin on his face, Roman seemingly calming at the display.

The second the call ended he rounded the corner to see if Janus was okay. He was curled up on the floor with a sleeping Virgil in his arms, letting out slight sniffles as he slowly looked up at him. He never really liked whenever Roman would joke, let alone talk, about how much he wished Remus didn’t have a deathworlder partner. The fact that Roman’s comments have gotten to the point that he seemed to be accusing Janus of  _ abuse _ , and causing his partner to  _ cry _ , was really the last straw. He was going to have a few words with Roman when they got on board. But for now, he’s gonna lead his boo back to the sofa in the common area and cuddle him, at least until he falls back asleep. 

Remus didn’t sleep however, his brain too riled by Roman’s words and his own questions. He brushed his fingers through Virgil’s hair, staring at the thick scar across the little guy’s hairline. Once Janus woke up again a little later, Remus really needed clarification on a couple of things. He knew the other three will have their questions and likely will prod a lot more aggressively than him, and he didn’t want to risk them pushing Janus over the edge he’s clearly standing too close to. “What are the biggest things you need right now Jan?” Janus just shrugged, curling into Remus a bit more. Janus didn’t know what he needed. Shit. He really doesn’t want to force Janus to talk about anything, it isn’t his right. But he can’t exactly trust the others at the moment, even if they mean well. Especially since their little issue with tracking Janus’ location and scaring him further. “You know I don’t really wanna pride, but I wanna have some idea of what to keep the others from harassing you about.” Janus removed himself from Remus’ hold, leaving a heavy chill behind. He let out a shaky huff and looking at the ship parts scattered floor.

  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

  
  
  


If you were to look Remus in the face one day and told him that he was gonna move in with his brother and all of their mates were gonna live under one roof like a sitcom he would’ve shot you in the face for the idea alone. But the bags in his and Janus’ living room is making this a lot more real than he ever thought, and he fuckin hated it. But at least in this scenario he has a son, so there’s that difference. The fact Janus had barely come back from being kept prisoner by smugglers adds to it too. Janus did open up a bit about what he knew regarding Virgil, but he was still really vague about what they did with him. The most he was told was that the smugglers were harvesting Virgil’s organs while they harvested…  _ something _ from Janus too. Honesty, the fact that Janus was even willing to talk about this was progress in and of itself. The knocking at their door had Janus’ gaze snapping to the door, Remus was the first to stand and open it. There stood Logan, appearing as neutral as ever with his large lab coat, blue striped scarf, and indigo belt. 

The moment Logan looked at Janus, Logan seemed to tense at his presence. Which was a first, especially since Logan was the one who would shut down Roman’s clear distaste for deathworlders as much as possible and instead tried replacing it with some science thing about the subject. But now, looking at them both, they both seem somewhat fearful of each other. Janus’ shifting back inside slightly with Virgil clutched to his chest and his tail twitching told him all he needed to. Remus walked out with Janus quickly following behind, once the door shut and they entered the garage he couldn’t help but notice Janus staring at the ground. Remus took Janus’ hand whilst he was carrying their luggage with three of his arms, hoping that it could strike a bit of confidence in him before they met up with the others. All this did was have Janus squeeze his hand, still avoiding looking Logan in the visor. This didn’t seem to deter the blidnox as he continued tapping away at his monitor. Logan glanced at Virgil, a curious look as he slowly held his hand out. “I wasn’t aware your third crewmate was a human infant, is this new?” Remus wasn’t sure if he was asking if the little guy was from before or after Janus was captured, he wasn’t even sure what Logan knew. All he could tell was that neither of his boys was all that ecstatic about the alien in a lab coat seemingly wanting to poke at them. Remus shifted his body between them as he gestured for them all to walk, already having a solid grasp of the layout of the ship. 

Even as they walked Logan continued to keep staring at Virgil, and in turn at Janus. Virgil actively hid his face in Janus’ side while Janus continued to cling to his hand. Remus cleared his throat, gaining Logan’s attention. “So, anything new we should know about?” Remus wasn’t really that curious himself, he was just hoping that he could steer Logan’s attention from his boys for a little while, just enough for them to at least collect themselves a little. Logan just seemed confused before speaking his mind anyway. “Well, considering that the humanling-“

“ _ Virgil _ .” Janus expressed, Remus couldn’t not hear the desperate sound from his partner even if Logan seemed blind to it. “That Virgil is an infant. I cannot promise the possibility that Patton may try having some alone time with the young at some point.” Janus held Remus’ hand in a death grip, clearly communicating how much he hates the idea. “And while we do have scans for each of you, that I highly doubt have changed since the last time you two were here, we’ll need to have a quick medical examination of Virgil.” Remus could feel Janus shaking at everything Logan said, whether that was in anger or fear he couldn’t tell through the suitcase blocking his view. Remus gulped slightly, suddenly regretting this arrangement no matter how desperate. “Roman probably won’t be happy about the fact that Virgil happens to be from a deathworld either.” The grevnjii puffed in annoyance frowning all the while. “Well he’s gonna have to suck it up while we’re here, I don’t wanna find out about him bitching and whining especially over Janus and Virgil.” Logan just stared at him as they headed closer towards the main common room. The alien readjusted his rectangular visor, clearly taken aback. “I see.'' All was said as they began to walk in silence, suddenly staring at the wall as they reached their first destination.

Roman was staring at the entranceway as Remus entered first, relief plastered on his face. Remus was still pissed though, he was gonna chew his ear canal out. Later though, he won’t want to push too quickly since they just got there. “Remus! Thank nebula you're okay!” The alien in red dramatically declared, unaware of how bitter his brother was at the moment. “Oh yeah? And why wouldn’t we be okay?” Roman’s giant grin fell, seemingly confused now. Like he didn’t push his mate into crying earlier. Roman’s eyes snapped over to Janus then to his arms and back again, having clearly seen the baby was a deathworlder himself. “Is there something you want to explain Remus?” Roman asked, glancing back at Remus for a moment only to stare at Janus. Who, despite looking calm and confident, Remus could tell was on the brink of running out of there. Remus gestured for Janus to go take a seat, while he walked up to his shorter twin. “Look, there’s a lot I can’t explain right now. But know that we’re having a little chat later.” Roman just stared at him, seemingly scared by Remus’ much quieter tone than he was ever exposed to growing up, Remus never really needing to talk like this until now. Roman grabbed one of Remus’ arms as he put down one of the cases, a stone-cold look across his face. “Why can’t you tell me? What happened?” Remus shook his head, looking Roman in his eyes. “It isn’t my story to tell, Roman.” His brother nodded, looking back at Janus and Logan. “Logan, could you do the medic thing and lead Janus and the deathworldling-“ 

“ _ Virgil _ .” Remus snapped, not at all pleased at how Roman was acting, what he was trying to tell him  _ not _ to do. “Take the  _ deathworlders _ to their room?” Remus wanted to smack the shit out of his brother, noticing Janus flinch as Roman had continued to speak. Logan merely nodded as the three-headed out of the room to the medical bay. 

Janus kept glancing back at Remus, clearly silently begging for Remus to come with them, to not be left alone. He wanted to scream as the door slid shut behind Janus. Remus snapped his gaze back at Roman. “You better have a good excuse for being an ass to Janus, Roman.” Roman looked hurt at Remus’ hostility, he couldn’t care at the moment as his focus was on Janus and Virgil. “He disappears without a trace. You call screeching, you destroy chunks of your  _ own _ ship, you ignore our calls for several weeks, hunt him down like some prized  _ jewel _ , and he comes back with a deathworlder infant  _ worse _ than his own and you expect me to not see his blatant manipulation?!” Roman questions, raising his voice the more he spoke. Remus just stared at Roman for a moment, soaking in all he had said. Roman always did have a bad habit of assuming the worst in others, especially when it came to any deathworlders. The dumbass even thought that  _ Janus _ was an aggressive partner at one point over a small bruise Remus got! Remus could only glare at Roman, his hands shaking from how tight his fists were, how much he wanted to bash his own brother's face into the wall just from looking back at all the shit Roman had said up until now. “Roman, you don’t know  _ shit _ about what’s going on,” Remus said slowly through gritted teeth, hoping the words would sink in, hoping Roman would understand that this wasn’t a black and white situation. “Then why did he disappear, huh? Why did he-“ 

Remus snapped, unable to handle this anymore. “BECAUSE HE WAS  _ NABBED BY SMUGGLERS _ ! THE WEEKS HE WAS GONE HE WAS HELD  _ CAPTIVE _ BY SMUGGLERS!” Roman stared wide-eyed as Remus began to cry, his feelings towards everything spilling over. “THEY FUCKING BROKE  _ ONTO _ THE SHIP, AND TOOK HIM! DONT YOU FUCKING  _ DARE _ TRY TO PIN ALL OF THIS ON HIM ROMAN! HE DIDNT DO  _ SHIT _ !” Remus’ whole body was shaking at this point, Roman’s eyes darted around the room for a moment gathering his thoughts suddenly looking haunted. “I’m so sorry Remus, I had no idea.” Remus wiped his several eyes, pulling himself back together, staring at Roman’s distraught face. “Don’t fuckin say sorry to me. Say it to  _ Janus _ . Say it to  _ Virgil _ .  _ They’re _ the ones you’re hurting the worst.” Remus whispered, mentally drained from literally screaming his feelings, Roman nodded at this silent agreement.

Roman walked towards the couch, as Remus headed towards the door. “Wait, don’t you wanna sit down and relax?” His brother asked, seemingly a little desperate. “I’ve got my boys to check on, make sure they’re okay with Logan.” Roman was visually confused at Remus’ words. “They aren’t exactly on the  _ friendliest _ of terms with all doctors Roman.” Roman had a split of realization before he was ushering Remus out to the halls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy Balls, I am so sorry for how long it took for me to put out this chapter! Christmas really fucked up with my flow for these stories, but hopefully publishing this chapter can help me get out of this funk. 
> 
> I still don't consider this fic as an unsympathetic Roman fic simply because from their perspective it's far too easy to come to the wrong conclusion about what's happening with Remus and Janus.


	8. Piecing it together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan is in charge of baby Virgil's medical check and review. He wasn't prepared for what Janus' reaction would be, nor was he ready for the results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: TW for Medical Torture, Themes of Child Abuse, Illegal Smuggling Rings, Trauma.
> 
> (Please tell me if I missed anything!)
> 
> Yeah, this chapter's a lot more angsty than the last.

Logan couldn’t help but keep glancing over at Janus and his new human, Virgil. It wasn’t that he had ever found Janus odd before now, quite the opposite in fact! He was always an excellent person to sit down and read within silence, neither of them having such a short-live luxury with their partners. So to watch Janus being skittish and so territorial over any young was alarming, let alone human young. Perhaps Janus knows something is wrong with him? It’s possible, but it could also be tied into the mask he’s wearing. He had found it as suspicious, although refrained from mentioning it, focused on honing in on his location. The tiny human in his arms is definitely odd, he can't recall a human-looking like how this one did. He knew that there were species on the deathworld earth that could lose their pigments as a result of inbreeding, but he wasn’t aware such a process could happen to the dominant species on the planet. He’ll definitely have to take notes… Unless Janus forbids it, he wouldn’t want to anger him. It was spine chilling enough when Remus had gotten angered as he did, he didn’t wish to find out if there was a deeper level for Janus. 

The med bay was about the same as it was the last time Janus was there, so things should run smoothly from here. That was if Janus wasn’t just standing outside the entrance. Worry began to build when he saw the spooked look on Janus’ face, tugging on his cloak a bit. He readjusted his visor, hoping that it could pick up what was happening with Janus. His heart rate is slightly higher than before and his panic seemed to increase but his heat signature is coming back with a slight alternate temperature from his tail. The thing must be malfunctioning, it appears he’ll need to make due with his normal eyes until he can repair the bugs. He took the visor off and placed it onto one of the tables, gesturing Janus in. He still seemed to refuse to move.

Something was still definitely wrong, could Janus be afraid of the med bay? That’s absolutely ridiculous, Med Bays are where people go when they need medical assistance. In this case, it would be a basic scan-over and a quick blood sample then they can head back to the main area for dinner. Surely Janus understands this, he’s  _ been  _ through this process before!

Logan walked over and took hold of Janus’ sleeve to direct him inside. But he still wouldn’t go in, this was getting out of hand. The human poked his head out but immediately hid back inside his cocoon hold with Janus. Janus in response held the small creature tighter. Did the human young have a fear of doctor visits? This seemed likely as, during his studies of various species, human young seem to have a much longer list of irrational fears compared to their fully-grown counterparts. Janus’ lack of reasoning, however, is very unusual for the stoic alien, especially compared to how almost excited he had acted before whenever he had his yearly scans with Remus.

“Oi! Whale Penis! Wait up!” Speaking of Remus. Looking at Janus, he seemed to relax a bit hearing Remus's approach. Logan could only sigh, of course, Janus would’ve wanted to wait for Remus, the human is just as much his responsibility as it is Janus’. The taller twin rounded the corner, seemingly unaware of Logan’s previous metaphorical roadblocks with getting Janus inside. “You ready for this quickie?” The six-armed alien winked at his own innuendo, Logan could only roll his eyes. Janus nodded as Remus grabbed his hand. The odd bunch walked in as Logan followed from behind, wanting to make sure no one starts running around and destroying the place. “Where’s your visor super genius?” Logan walked over to the scanner, finally setting the machine up to scan the tiny human. “The visor seemed to be malfunctioning so I’m putting it to the side to work on later, it’s nothing serious as far as I can tell.” Remus nodded as the scanner opens its doors, ready to process the kit. 

“Alright, everything is set up. Janus, could you put the human in the scanner?” Logan explained, choosing to just quote the handbook’s word choice since he’s done this so much and frankly can’t care anymore when it comes to varying word choice. Janus merely shifted his weight, staring at the machine. Logan’s patience was running thin, He couldn’t think of a single reason for Janus to be so stubborn about this. “Yes, because putting an easily scared child in a large machine  _ definitely  _ won’t scare them,” Janus replied, his voice… quivering a bit? Had he taken a step back? Logan could only watch in confusion as Remus took a  _ very  _ slow step forward like he was approaching something  _ delicate _ . He can’t recall a time he’s seen the bombastic and destructive alien be so cautious. “It’s gonna be okay Jan, we’ll be right here ready to pick him up the second it’s over. Okay?” Remus cupped his hands on top of his head, a sign of peaceful surrender. Janus stared at him for a while, Logan felt like he was watching a plotting wild animal all of a sudden. The dilated eyes and stress-puffing adding to the look. Janus suddenly let out a puff of air, rolled his eyes, and handed the little one to Remus, who put the little thing in the machine.

Immediately the young tried flinging himself out of it, the thing sloppily crawling to the outer wall. Thankfully it closed before the child was even close enough to put a finger near. The moment the youth reached the wall, it began smacking at it before it… started to make a distress call? He wasn’t the most familiar with interacting with human young this small but he hadn’t realized that he would be at the age to a distress call. The machine began its scanning process, as usual, nothing too odd. Until from the other side of the glass, he could see Virgil pushing his forehead against the glass, making a gross face all the while. “Let me go Remus.” Logan snapped his gaze over to the odd couple, only to see Remus using all his arms to hold Janus in place. Clearly not using any of his strength, but just holding his limbs in place as Janus leaned forward. Janus, who seemed to begin tearing up at the sight of the human, was increasing his attempts at heading towards the humanling. This began to worry Logan, he wasn’t sure if Janus was wanting to just be closer, wanted the young to just stop distress calling, or if there was something else wrong he was overlooking. It wasn’t until the inside of the machine flashed red for a moment where everything started falling apart.

Virgil had full-on screamed at this point as if the machine had harmed him. Logan quickly searched through the pad, there couldn’t have been anything in there that could’ve harmed the child. That didn’t seem to matter to Janus as he has now begun practically fighting Remus over Virgil’s scan. Janus has begun pushing Remus’ hands away as he was trying to throw himself at the machine, nearly sprinting at it. The hissing, the growling, the screaming that flew out of the alien. Logan couldn’t handle it, he had to hide. Virgil’s screaming and calling never ceasing. Once the machine  _ beeped  _ its completion, Logan could see Janus out of the corner of his eye run-up to the scanner and  _ smash  _ his body into it. Thank the stars the thick glass didn’t budge under Janus’ attack. The same couldn’t be said for the rest of the door as Janus ripped it from its hinges. Obviously, it wasn’t exactly the most impressive of feet considering the material but he can’t recall a time Janus had ever done something like that. 

Once Logan stood back up and stared at the couple, now holding a heavy-breathing Virgil, he couldn’t help the feeling of being a small child among very pissed off adults. Janus tugged at his cloak again, clearly trying to brush off what had just happened. “Let’s agree to never do a scan on Virgil again unless it’s one of those toddler models, agreed?” Logan nodded rapidly, not wanting to unleash… whatever was released upon the baby’s meltdown. Remus sighed, seemingly tired already. Logan tugged at his scarf a little, suddenly it feels a bit too tight. “Should we wait until  _ tomorrow  _ for the DNA sample or…?” Janus gripped Virgil just a bit tighter at that moment while Remus groaned. “Nah, we should just get that done with now…”

  
  
  


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Thankfully the blood sampling was much easier. Virgil did cry again, however this time it was much more subdued, and Janus was being held in Remus’ lap. It wasn’t stress-free but it definitely helped. He had ushered the oddball family out nearly an hour ago, having spent the hour both running the sample through the system and recollecting himself. Now, now it was time to review the scan and DNA results.

The first thing to look over was the scan results, he wanted to know exactly what physical issues he’ll need to keep an eye out for in the future, anything to keep Janus from freaking out again. The first thing he looked at was the skeleton of Virgil and the skeleton of a healthy humanling around his estimated age range. He suddenly realized how unnecessary that might be, as he could clearly see a thin line across the child’s scalp area along with… missing  _ ribs _ . He had to physically rub his eyes to make sure he wasn’t just seeing things, even counted each individual rib from Virgil and the reference. This… this situation might be worse than he was expecting. His mind went back to the child leaning his head against the glass, feeling nauseous at the mental image. He switched over to the organ scan of Virgil and his reference to see if,  _ hopefully _ , everything was where it was  _ supposed  _ to be. He had to look away from the screen and stare at the floor for a moment, covering his mouth with his hand at what he just saw. This child was missing several  _ organs _ . He searched through which ones he was missing and couldn’t believe what his screen was saying. He didn’t know a human could live without a lung, let alone a human infant. How was this child anything but  _ dead _ ? He suddenly didn’t want to check the scans for the child’s brain, fearing what he would find. With a shaky hand, he pulled up Virgil’s brain compared with a healthy human infant. It was… disturbing, to say the least. It was obvious that there were small places along his brain that had small holes. Anger began to flood Logan, what in the cosmos would cause any number of injuries like this?! He instantly began searching through his database, hoping to find something- anything to lead him to answers. Until he found it and wished he hadn’t. Across his screen was nothing but image results of nearly identical wounds or missing organs across infants around Virgil’s estimated age. One thing held all these young under this one category: Smuggling Ring Younglings. Virgil was in a  _ smuggling ring _ . Logan felt warmth on his face and wiped it with his scarf- oh, he was crying. He leaned back in his chair, soaking in everything he just gathered from that awful scanning process alone. A choaked sob escaped his lips as a thought crossed his mind, _ had they used scanners to pick what to harvest? _

He’s already looked too deeply into this, he might as well check what the blood test came back with. Thankfully the blood test seemed merciful to him, as all it brought up was the traced albinism, he had suspected. It appears there’s a list of likely medical problems that’ll arise in the future from the child’s missing pigments. 

That didn’t seem to matter at this point, he had too many other things to focus on. Namely finding a replacement door for the scanner and finding a youth scanner to hopefully not send Virgil into a breakdown the next time he needs a scan. He’ll also need to look further into ‘photophobia, amblyopia, nystagmus’, and several other listed possible medical problems. Thankfully some of these other problems he can begin focusing on right away, especially when it comes to his easily ‘burned’ skin. 

  
  
  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

  
  


Roman couldn’t help the anxious feeling at the back of his neck as he tried to sketch his worries away. He was never yelled at by Remus on anything, it was always the other way around whenever Remus had dug through his stuff. Roman never really liked Janus, it wouldn’t take Logan’s analysis to prove that. It’s… difficult to trust deathworlders, especially if they happen to be of any mammal or reptilian ancestry. At least he settled on relatively peaceful species as lifelong mates, unlike Remus who seemed insistent on going with one of the deadliest deathworlder species in the galaxy  _ and  _ having an extremely deadly  _ human  _ as a son! Deathworlders are notoriously brutal, strong, practically untouchable. So Janus should be able to handle whatever happened when he got smuggled! It’s not like this is the first time the guy was captured in some way, so what was Remus even freaking out over? 

Roman glanced up from his paper when he saw Logan enter in, fiddling with his tablet as usual. His visor was missing however, must be in need of repairs. The two made eye contact for a moment before Logan quickly glanced around before sitting next to Roman, clearly trying to make sure no one would walk in suddenly but not even hiding it in the slightest. “I have the results of the scan of Virgil.” Roman rolled his eyes, did they really need to talk about the clearly dangerous creatures they had on their ship right now? “What about it?” Logan readjusted his scarf, clearly nervous about whatever he was going to bring up. “Just… I think we might need to talk to Patton later about boundaries when it comes to Janus and Virgil.” Roman’s eyes went wide, really worried about whatever they’d need to tell Patton about their two new deathworlder’s. Logan let out a small cough, fiddling with his tablet again. “Based on the results from the scan and the...complications that arose during it, I have very strong reason to believe that Virgil isn’t just a human young. That he’s… that he was within a smuggling ring before Janus had adopted him.” Roman could only stare at Logan as he was struggling to process what he just heard. “W-what were the results like exactly?” Logan slowly shook his head, like he was trying to not think about it. “Missing organs, damaged bone, and possible brain injury are the broad terms I’d use. But… I’m sure Patton will call it medical torture.” Roman stared at his hands for a moment, letting it sink in, letting thoughts fester.  _ What if that happened to Janus too…? _

“...Janus was smuggled.” Spilled from his mouth, barely above a whisper. He could feel Logan’s eyes on him as they sat. “W...what?” Roman let out a heavy sigh, rubbing two hands over his face whilst the others held himself. “Remus told me that Janus was captured by smugglers. That  _ that’s  _ why he was gone for all this time and why Remus freaked out.” Roman leaned back and groggily stared at Logan, feeling emotionally drained despite not having had dinner yet. While Logan seemed to have been having a hard time grasping that Janus was captured too. “Do you think that they harvested off of Janus too?” Roman went wide-eyed for a moment, contemplating the possible outcome. Roman’s swallow seemed to be enough for his mate as his head fin flung straight up. Roman groaned as Logan began rushing about the room, clearly trying to set up a medical appointment for later in the week for Janus. 

His thought of Janus being able to handle whatever happened on his own went out the window with one conversation.  _ Great _ . Just trying to imagine what would be harvested off of Janus made him feel queezy all of a sudden. The thoughts of how badly Remus had been panicking rushing by, how Janus was dressed now, the fact Janus had brought a baby likely from the same smuggler ship. Now that Roman was thinking about it, Janus wasn’t exactly talking very much. Things weren’t going to be the same as they were before, even if he tried to ignore it…

A jingle is played over the intercom, as a very cheery voice could be heard over the intercom. “Dinner’s ready! Hope you guys are hungry cause I doubled the recipe this time!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp! Patton's Joining the chat! Wonder how he'll react...
> 
> Yeah this one was a trip. New rule for myself with this fic, binge listen to SteamPianist's stuff. That shit really puts you in a headspace.


	9. A Look into Troubled Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton enters the scene! He's in the dark about what's going on, the only time ignorance is the furthest thing from bliss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! TW for mentions of medical torture, PTSD, trauma, and an overall bad time.

He couldn’t wait to meet Remus’ new crew member, though he did feel a bit lost about when they may have popped up. He couldn’t recall Remus bringing up anything about back-up, and he was certain that Janus was alone when he had called. Well, whoever they are, he just hoped he would be able to give them all of the happiest thoughts he could conger up and share! Vixcoves are known for their empathy reading. After all, what kind of crewmate, let alone mate, would he be if he didn’t use it? He wondered about what kind of creature they might be. Could they be another vixcove? Or maybe they were a blidnox? Roman was freaking out earlier about them being a deathworlder, but which one? There had to be at least 12 common deathworlders, so guessing might be a bit tough. Oh! Maybe he didn’t see this one because they were a Hindrox! Those guys are deathworlders, and they have unrivaled camouflage capabilities. That would be so cool! He couldn’t wait for everybody to finally come in!

He gently strapped the giant cooking container of stew in the middle of the table, securing it in place just in case. Logan and Roman rushed through the door, both heaving just a bit as they stood there. Patton was worried, why would they have run here? Neither ever run to the dining room. “Well jee, I didn’t think you guys were  _ that  _ hungry!” Patton playfully swung his cooking stick around a bit at the two. Logan began fidgeting with his scarf as Roman stretched his six arms. “Patton, there’s something we  _ have  _ to talk about-”

“-Can’t it wait until after dinner? It’s not like there are  _ other  _ people here now or anything.” Roman and Logan swung around to Janus, who towered over the three of them so it wasn’t hard to miss him. But, it still felt like he was missing something despite this. Roman mumbled something while Logan briskly walked over to the table, bringing out the baby carrier from the wall. The carrier they never had a use for. Patton turned to Roman for an explanation, but the tiny thing bundled up in Janus’ arm answered it for him. Patton could only squeal as he rushed over, bumping Roman and causing Janus to startle a bit. “Oh my gosh! Is that a baby?! When? How?” At least this explained a few things about this ‘third crewmember’. The lack of mentions, lack of appearance in the call, even explained why Roman called Remus ‘way too territorial’ earlier! Grevnjii’s are notoriously territorial of their pack, after all, that might even explain Remus’ freakout before… Oh gosh, now he feels a bit sad at the thought. They must be stressed with the new addition!

Janus shuffled in place, Patton’s scanner picking up that he was both uncomfortable and tired. He was confused by his scanner's reading but way too focused on the little thing bundled in Janus’ scaled arms. Remus poked his head from behind Janus, staring at patton. His freckles’ glow dimming at Remus’ showing off his un-tucked fangs, clearly a warning for the bald alien to back off. He couldn’t fight off the startled feeling at the display, Remus having only flashed his fangs at anybody attacking him until now. So, Patton merely nodded in his direction and headed back to the table, they can all chat during dinner about whatever the problem is. 

Patton went over to the table, gesturing the others to follow as he went. He watched as Janus headed over to the carrier, tugging the blanket off the little one’s face. Gosh! The little guy was a human! He didn’t know they could be so small, or so… bright. He didn’t think this human had any glow in the dark attributes, but he highly doubts that the human child could be safe on a planet like earth. Not that he’d be a hated child, but that light coloration cannot help with camouflage or warmth, as a lot of things on earth are dependent on what he’s heard. Looking at Logan and Roman, they both seem to be actively avoiding looking at the little thing. Why  _ wouldn’t  _ they wanna look at this little fella? It’s got such puffy little cheeks!

Patton took a few steps towards Virgil and Janus, hoping to chat about their ‘third crewmate’, but Remus stepped in front of him with a frown. That was odd, Remus isn’t usually the type to frown like that. Now that he’s thinking about it, Janus hasn’t really talked much since he entered the dining room. Why did his visor show Janus to be tired? “I think you should just sit with your boo’s for tonight, maybe later you can see the little booger.” Patton was confused, aren’t human babies supposed to be social? Did he hear wrong? He just nodded as he rounded the table, still really close to the child, but with Roman between the two. As everyone sat down and began gathering up their plates, it was time for their table banter, or for Patton it was. “So, how was everyone’s day?” Janus and Remus tensed at the question, he wasn’t sure why though. Logan sighed as he poked at his food. “I don’t want to talk about it.” The blindox’s fin held tight against his head at the declaration. “I found out some stuff that has me frustrated, that’s all I’m getting into.” Roman began stabbing at the meat chunks in the stew, some of it splashing out and nearly landing on his crown birthmark above one of his eyes. Patton looked at Remus, hoping he’d at least continue his habit of less-than-appropriate humor when at the table. The two just stared at each other for a moment before Remus let out what could only be described as a feral hiss. “I want to go on a mass hunt, but I’ve got other things I’m focusing on.” Patton leaned back slightly at this, he couldn’t tell if this ‘hunt’ included him or not so he just tried to brush it off. He looked at Janus, surely he’d wanna chat about a new book he either read or saw but couldn’t get. All he got was a slow shake of the head. Patton pouted for a moment, suddenly glancing at the small child seemingly in his own little world with his button gizmo. Patton beamed for a moment, a harmless idea popping into his head. “Well, what do you wanna add little guy?” The baby snapping his eyes to Pattons, like he hadn’t realized he was there until now. 

Roman held one of his hands up, trying to grab Patton’s attention. “Hey, Patton? Maybe you shouldn’t-”

“-Well? You wanna tell us how your days been? What’s your name cutie pie?” The vixcove leaned forward, wanting to just stare at this odd child, soaking in how new this whole thing with the dastardly duo even was.

The child just stared at him for a moment, before suddenly reaching out to Janus whining. “Uh, oh,” Patton whispered. Janus standing to get Virgil out of his seat. Remus grabbed Janus’ wrist, while Patton just kept looking between the three. “It’s okay Janus, he’s okay. At least finish before picking him up? Please?” Janus just stared at him for a moment before looking at the baby again. Janus slowly sat back down, not taking his eyes off ‘Booger’, who was still whining. He couldn’t let it end like that, not with a clearly distressed child! “It’s okay, I got it. You just relax, ‘kay?” He reassured Janus, hoping it was bringing the klrunaq some level of comfort. However, the more Patton approached the more the little guy seemed to whine louder. Even as Patton began removing the young from his carrier, he could vaguely hear someone whisper “Patton”, but wanted to make sure the child was happier than he was now. The young seemed to begin to properly cry being in his arms, like being around Patton was the worst thing ever. So perhaps the more traditional method wouldn’t work. There’s always the way he prefers anyway!

He lightly placed his hand against the back of the child’s puff of hair, trying to connect to the young’s emotions and memories, determined to get to the bottom of this.

  
  
  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

  
  
  
  


_ Where…? _

_ He didn’t recognize this place, where was his Lello? Did they take him? Why was this bald grey person touching him? _

_ He felt his body slowing suddenly as the grey was making noises at him, as the others around brought out the pointy thingies, brought out the sharp thingies. _

_ His head felt so floaty, his body felt heavy. He couldn’t move. It hurt, the sharp thingies were hurting him.  _

_ He tried crying, nothing came out. He tried screaming, he couldn’t hear anything. He tried opening his eyes, but they stayed shut. _

_ He didn’t like this. He didn’t like being away from Lello. He didn’t like these people. _

_ Suddenly his eyes flashed open as the grey screeched, he saw red. Red was everywhere. He didn’t know what the red was, but it always hurt when it came out. The red stuff scared him, but he couldn’t feel the scare. They were poking at the red, pushing more of the hurtful sharp thingies in. _

_ Pulling out a lump of red. Taking his lump of scary red. That was his red. _

_ Please. _

_ Please stop. _

_ STOP. _

_ PLEASE JUST STOP! _

  
  
  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

  
  


Patton ripped his hand away from the back of the child’s head and held them out away from himself. He didn’t want to hold the little fella anymore. He quickly turned to Roman and gave the child to him.Who then began panicking a bit himself, shifting to each foot rapidly like he was just told to defuse a bomb. A bomb Patton just gave him in his panic over what he picked up. Janus inhaled a hiss at the action, scurrying over to them from the other side of the table. Roman stumbled his hold on the little guy as Janus took the child and held him close heading towards the sleeping corridors. Patton panicked, did he ruin their first dinner as a new group? What would that mean for future meals? “W-wait! Don’t you wanna finish eating first?” Janus twisted around, facing the rest of the room. Panic, exhaustion, and anger flashing over his face. “ _ No. _ Thank you, Patton. It  _ has  _ been a long day for both of us and I’m sure sleeping  _ isn’t  _ good for one’s own health after all.” And with that, Janus rushed out of the room to his and Remus’ room. Remus and Logan sighed as he left while he and Roman seemed to just stand confused.

Patton stood there shocked before plopping back down in his seat. He couldn’t pick up any specific memory, too many of them blended together into an unclear mush. But the feelings had been consistent, had been solid enough to remember. The numbing feeling in those memories scaring him more than anything else, but he couldn’t pinpoint why though. He didn’t even realize when Logan and Roman had been talking to him, “What?” Roman huffed out, brushing at his baggy light grey jacket as if it would help. Logan cleared his throat. “Are you alright Patton?” Patton just blinked at him, unsure what to say. He took his visor off, hoping to see without it on could help, at least a little. He could suddenly feel himself crying a bit, all those sudden feeling from the child beginning to sink in. Patton held his arms open, hoping that his mates could pick up his need for comfort at what he picked up. Roman didn’t hesitate for a moment, Logan following shortly after. The smell of Various berries across the galaxy clashing with the smell of processed oil. The weight keeping him from the floaty feeling he was processing earlier. Is this why the little fella immediately wanted Janus? Did he want a consistent solid too?

Remus cleared his throat, catching Patton’s attention. “Look, for your sake never do that again.” Roman looked at Remus, looking angry at his twin. “Remus-” The twin ignored him, focusing on Patton. “If even that much was enough to fuck with you, then don’t do it. I don’t think your mates would appreciate the idea of you intentionally mentally linking with anything that’s likely to leave you traumatized.” Patton slowly nodded in surrender, usually more than willing to argue against but too mentally exhausted to do so at the moment. “Kay, good. Now if you guys excuse me, I’ve got someone’s tail to pet.~” A big grin stretched across his face as he heads out. Roman turned to his twin, still refusing to let go of Patton. Something Patton appreciated him doing. “Remus. Remus wait-” was all he could get out as the door closed behind Remus.

Patton sighed, upset that dinner was cut short whilst feeling sluggish and miserable over the emotions he had picked up. Sleep didn’t sound all that bad right now though. Roman grabbed his shoulder as Logan continued to hold Patton. “Patty-cakes, we gotta talk. The three of us.” Logan nodded as Patton just slumped, not excited about whatever this discussion’s about. Especially if it means that they’re gonna tell him to not use his abilities for a while since now he just wants to understand enough to be able to give proper happy thoughts to their resident deathworlders. “I completely agree. Although, we may want to take this conversation to our own corridors. We don’t want this discussion to be interrupted, after all.” Roman gave a nod as he leads the way, Patton standing between the two as they went. Feeling a bit of comfort at them both being there. This must be why Janus stands in the middle, it’s super comforting, even with whatever the two wanted to talk to him about before hanging over all their heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may not be happy with how it doesn't reach the 3,000-word goal but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy shoving some angst in there! These boys really need to stop assuming their visors are busted.
> 
> We even get a little taste of Baby Virgil's perspective too!... Even if that perspective is fucked up.


	10. Two steps forward, four steps back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton tries to be more open to Janus, who miss reads Patton's intentions. Patton has another emotional wave, Logan and Roman are there to comfort, only for Roman's words to hurt more than intended. Of course, Logan tells Remus about it the second he sits at the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! TW for Bigot Roman, Crying, Trauma Flashbacks, etc. (If I'm missing any, don't be afraid to tell me in the comments, thanks!)

He felt awful when he woke up, this feeling wasn’t even just from trying to connect to the baby yesterday. Everything that Roman and Logan told him, what they described, what this likely did to both Virgil and Janus’ mental states, what physical problems they could be suffering from, it all made him feel ill. It didn’t help that he couldn’t fall asleep properly, nor did waking up early. It wasn’t like Patton tried waking up early, the three had already planned out some plans for their next stop so waking up early was… completely unnecessary. But his lingering sync with the human, Virgil, had left a lot more of an effect than he realized. Even as he sat up, the phantom panic still lingered, tingling in his fingers as he got his favorite get up on as he tried to remember what the dream was about. His light blue bodysuit was still clean from yesterday, sliding his cream ankle boots brought some snug comfort as he grabbed his baggy light grey coat.

_This suffocating numb didn’t remove how loud the squishy crushing was, how loud the screaming was. The bald grey looked ahead as he kept a hand on the back of his head. He didn’t wanna know what the squishy crushing he could hear was. The hollow face he could only stare at leaving him wanting to cry, what was he doing wrong? Why wasn’t the bald grey not happy? It wasn’t until the mean voices opened the doors to a much quieter place did he feel some type of happy, even if he wasn’t. A much meaner voice suddenly appeared, talking with the other mean voices. He couldn’t turn his head away from the bald grey, who suddenly started giving him a scary smile. He suddenly didn’t want this grey bald happy._

He couldn’t help staring at his reflection as he got some head lotion and rubbed it against his hairless head. A slight giggle slipped his lips, thinking back to when he was first learning about humans during one of his forced extra classes… well, back when he _had_ classes. He thought it was pretty funny how the human movies from before discovering alien life made humans to be so delicate, especially in the ones where the humans fight back and succeed. The irony was always amusing to him. It unnerved him whenever he would look at their most common depiction of aliens at the time being this grey one. How could humans have known what vixcove’s even looked like? He guessed he couldn’t blame humans, their species sharing the most structural similarities probably helped with this. However, he couldn’t properly grasp the similarities based on the human’s media, but having seen Virgil he couldn’t deny the jokes he heard about humans and vixcove having twin ancestors. Patton couldn’t help thinking about how much larger his eyes were compared to the young, or how much flatter his nose, or how much narrower his jawline was. However, one memory from then was lingering, where a human’s breath tube and eating tube were one tube. He isn’t sure why he’s thinking of this as he’s heading towards the kitchen, but the thought of the child choking just by doing something so normal, that scared him a bit. He shook himself a bit as he went about making everybody's morning meals.

He didn’t realize when he wasn’t alone until there was a knock against the kitchen’s doorway. Turning, he was expecting Logan as he usually knocked on the doorframe to announce his presence. However, he was greeted by Janus. Janus who… didn’t have Virgil on him. It felt somehow wrong seeing Janus away from Virgil in any way. Janus readjusted his mask as he walked into the kitchen, heading for the cooling box. Patton couldn’t stop himself from slowing his chopping of various fruits as he watched what Janus was grabbing. “You know, if you're like- it’s totally okay if the answers no- I could make breakfast for you and Remus? Maybe Virgil too?” He still wanted to help, even if he needed to do it in small ways, he still wanted to make things better than they ever were. Janus snapped himself up, seemingly a bit annoyed? A bit nervous? Upset? “I take it, the others told you some things?” Patton’s words were stuck in his throat as he stared at Janus’ oddly surrendering behavior. All he could do was nod. The Klrunaq sighed as he looked between the box and the table. He hurried himself into putting the box away as he went to sit at the table. He wished he could take away whatever was eating away at Janus, but considering what happened the previous night he doubted that would help anything. All he could do was take baby steps.

“So, what would you like for breakfast? Anything specific on your mind?” He knew that klrunaq’s, like all aliens, have specific diets. Humans aren't an exception to this, even if their diets are on a larger spectrum than most. Janus just silently shrugged, he wasn’t sure if this was out of disinterest, out of politeness, or if there would be a different reason altogether. Janus always seemed to just eat whatever Remus was eating, something about ‘not being picky’. But, just this once, he wanted Janus to have something just for him. Even with what little they know, they really should have picked up something was off just from his continuous wearing of his mask, this whole situation looked dire. He thought about what Janus would normally pick out if Remus was out with Roman during a job, only to realize he usually stuck to leftovers. Did Janus just never like wasting food? He’ll have to think of something, maybe a little of what he usually makes the others? Janus wasn’t exactly an omnivore, maybe he’ll give him a bit of what he’d make Logan and the twins. For variety’s sake, just eating one type of meat isn’t good for anybody after all!

As Patton slid some of Logan’s larger-than-needed breakfast to a second plate and continued with what he was preparing for the twins, he felt he should ask some questions. Nothing about what happened, mind you! It’s just… it’s been a while since Janus had even spoken to them, let alone stepped foot on their ship. Only staying long enough for certain holidays, now that Patton was thinking about it. He knew that for as long as he, Remus, and Virgil were going to be there, that they’ll need stuff that they don’t have on the ship. That they’ll want stuff that they usually don’t have. Patton’s incident with Virgil yesterday told him that he may never be able to help them feel safe, if even then certainly not anytime soon. But, that doesn’t mean that he can’t help reach any comfort, can’t help feel some form of stability even if it’s a little bit. “Hey, Janus?” The gold alien peaked up at him, face unreadable. “I was wondering what kind of desserts you like, do you have any favorites?” He just stared, like he was processing what was just asked of him. Did he just breach something uncomfortable again? “I do happen to like those flat cocoa pastry sandwiches with this jelly filling if that’s any consolation.” Patton blinked before scurrying about for a pen and paper, wanting to make note of it for when he goes out again. He couldn’t help smiling a bit wider as he wrote when he heard Janus snicker from the dining area. 

He couldn’t help his happy hopping over this, let alone the increased glowing of his freckles. “Is there any stuff you want from the next market we visit?” Janus’ awkward shifting quickly switched that excitement to concentrated worry. Freckles shifted from it’s gold glow to a much more white coloration. Janus tapped his fingers against the table in thought, seemingly unsure. “I suppose I could use some more… specific lotion. Perhaps some more clothes, especially if we were to enter various intense temperatures. A safety suit would be good for Virgil.” Patton peaked up at this as he stirred the Twins’ breakfast a bit more before turning the heat off. “Oh, I was gonna ask about that too. What’re the biggest things Virgil _needs_ exactly? I think I heard once that human babies don’t sleep in the same place as their parents, something about the parents likely to roll onto the baby somehow?'' Patton tapped on his chin in thought, only to look up at Janus and see how _horrified_ he looked before looking to the ground. “UH- I mean, I didn’t mean _you_ would! Pfft! I don’t even know… how true that even _is…_ ” He couldn’t help his guilt, choking him at the end. Janus simply swished his tail, Patton only now noticing it as he sat there, both suddenly really awkward. Has his tail always had that weird two-tone look to it? “M-... maybe we could get a human baby book? Just so we can get a better idea on any specifics we don’t know about, yeah?” Janus just slightly nodded. “Perhaps we should get him an infant sleeping pod. We’ll definitely need to look into getting him some infant toys, and a toy box, maybe get him some baby gloves, or some blindox pacifiers.” Patton was confused, did Janus say he wants to use blindox pacifiers? Why those specifically? Janus seemed to have seen his confusion, as he elaborated. “The mouths of younger humans are… a bit small. It’s the safest brand for him to use as a surrogate.” Patton nodded, believing Janus has tested this sort of thing before and already understands what he needs to do.

Patton came over, placing the various containers of food around the table. He placed Janus’ split breakfast in front of him, trying to keep his hands and arms from reaching too close to him. He felt he needed to tell Janus about what Logan said last night, especially based on what was described. He sighed as he sat down, he’ll handle the dishes in a little while. The two sit in mutual silence, eating their meals in silence. Patton can’t help but notice how Janus keeps his eyes closed the entire time he eats each. Slow. Bite.

He couldn’t help noticing how, despite how slow Janus seemed to eat, he already ate it all already. No one has even stirred yet, everyone must’ve been exhausted from yesterday. He couldn’t blame them, everyone must’ve been struggling to sleep last night. At least they didn’t seem to awake early, like himself... And maybe Janus too. Janus stood, stretching. He had to tell Janus, right now. Otherwise, he won’t get another chance at it before it’s too late and he ends up panicking later. “Wait, I need to let you know about something.” Janus quirked an eyebrow, silently asking for him to continue. “Logan wants to set an appointment up- just to see if you need any extra medical attention, is all!” Patton reached for Janus as he turned towards the door. They both quickly whipped their arms away suddenly, Patton didn’t want to risk passing lines. Janus didn’t seem to pick up on this as he let out a distressed sigh. “Well, as lovely as this has been, I should be getting back to Remus and Virgil. I’m sure the little one is worried sick and I doubt Remus really knows how to placate him just yet.” Janus turned back towards the door. ‘I- I know things aren’t okay right now Janus.” The Klrunaq froze in place. “I won’t pretend to know, or even understand, what happened. But… but I know that whatever it was, it left you _and_ Virgil really hurt. I just… wanna help take the pressure off, even if it’s just a bit.” He expressed, rubbing at the tears dripping from his pitch-black eyes and dimmed freckles. Janus tilted his head a bit towards Patton. “You’re right, you don’t know, not like _anything_ did. Even if they did, It’s fine now. You don’t have to worry yourself over nothing.” And with that, he opened the doors to the sleeping quarters and disappeared down them.

Patton lightly placed his forehead against the counter, hoping a bit of pressure could help him with his own feelings again. He felt he could’ve handled that better, _so_ much better. His hunger suddenly left as it sinks in how badly he messed that whole conversation up. He looked at his deep grey hands, silently blaming them for the mess he’s in, wishing he didn’t resort to it in the first place. He got up back to the paper on the counter, he didn’t want to forget about any of the stuff Janus was talking about earlier. Impulsively, he added ‘some new gloves’ at the bottom of it. He wanted to add a physical barrier from his ability, suddenly feeling like an anxious little delinquent himself. He tucked his arms as he leaned on the counter, waiting for the rest of the house to awaken for the day.

_The dark room was always so much less scary than light. Light always gave his eyes and head ouchies, he could only sit there in the silence the meanies liked most. The stuff the meanies had him in leaving him feeling especially mean too. The meanies taking Lello again leaving him feeling more mean. Suddenly the door flung open, Lello got pushed in again. Why can’t those meanies just stop? Lello didn’t move, no sound, no moving, no faces. He couldn’t help but roll over and hold himself up, he had to see his Lello! He had ouchie rope all over his pointing stubs, on his face pokies over his ouchie side, and clumps of ouchie rope and bumps over a much shorter tail. He tried smacking the floor to get his attention, nothing. He tried yelling, nothing. He couldn’t help crying at it, why won’t Lello get up?_

_He has to get up!_

_He can’t be alone!_

_Please!_

_Please wake up!_

  
  


Patton clutched his chest and rubbed his cheeks as more phantom fear and sorrow rushed over him. He suddenly wanted to seek Janus out again, so he could hide away in his arms as he chased away these awful feelings. He couldn’t wrap around his head why, however. He knew he was still stuck dealing with the after-effects of connecting with someone so young and so traumatized, such a combination commonly causing the most lingering connection waves. But, did Baby Virgil really gather this bad of trauma from a few weeks? Was it even only a few weeks of damage or was it way longer? He felt someone tapping his shoulder, he quickly darted his eyes up to see Logan and Roman. They both looked concerned even with the drowsiness pressing at their features. He sniffled as Roman held his arm and Logan gripped his shoulder, both clearly trying to ground him from this sudden mental crash. Neither of them being the one’s his lingering connection was begging for. Soon, they lead him out of the kitchen and into the dining room. Patton’s food left only half-finished and nearly everyone else’s meals being untouched. He could only lean his head against Logan’s shoulder as he’s seated in his lap, while Roman rubbed several circles into his back with at least three hands. The action pulls a few tears and cries out, leaving his bubbly visor a mess. Soon, his crying settled and his lingering connection simmering back down. “Would you like to talk about it what caused that, Patton?” Patton could only briskly shake his head ‘no’ to Logan’s question, too mentally tired for much else. Roman’s back rubbing freezing, only holding his hands still. “Was that from the connection yesterday? Yeash, it’s lingering longer than when you tried connecting to Remus. I’m not sure if I should give the kid a medal or a scolding…” Logan snapped his eyes to Roman. “Don’t even think of doing so. This wasn’t intentional in any way, infants don’t have that kind of mental power. Yes, that includes humans Roman. Trauma is one of the most common _and_ crippling mental disabilities in modern humans, the worse being things like the species’ various depressions and anxiety disorders. To punish another life of any kind for that is beyond _disgusting_!” Patton watched as Roman held his hands behind his back in surrender, clearly taken aback by his comment. He couldn’t deny it, Roman was really going far with his comments now. He had to agree with Logan on this one, he couldn’t take it as sarcasm or as a joke like he normally would. “Why are you so harsh when it comes to deathworlders anyway?”

Roman sputtered, seemingly struggling with his words. Patton knew that back when they all first got together, it was because Roman and Remus were raised in a really anti-deathworlder part of the galaxy, he even remembered how Remus explained that he wasn’t allowed back to family reunions with the three anymore because he chose Janus over the rest of their family tree. But, that couldn’t justify it anymore. Logan had pointed out so many times how rude his comments were before but has seemed stuck in the mud about it at every turn. He felt so _hurt_ , feeling a fraction of that baby’s pain making it feel real for him, and that Roman’s words apply to him too. The longer Roman took to give a proper answer, the more Patton had to fight to keep from hiding in Logan’s arms. “Well… it’s not my fault that deathworlders are an obvious threat! I mean, klrunaq’s have always been known to be quite murderous while you could never trust a human as far as they can be thrown-'' Patton hid anyways, his crying coming back. The feeling of betrayal being too much. Logan held him a bit tighter, his scales being the closest thing to feeling like Janus at the moment, that small part of Virgil’s mind still clinging to the alien. “I think you should eat elsewhere for today, Roman,” Roman grumbled as the emotional extraterrestrial heard dishes shifting from across the table. “And I think you should sleep in one of the guest rooms for tonight,” Roman whined as they heard the doors to the sleeping areas open. “Woah, what did _I_ walk in on?” 

Oh, Remus has come out. He peeked his head out from where he stayed tucked up against Logan. Remus looked confused while Roman looked devastated. He felt guilty at the look, he never liked it when his mates were so upset, even if he felt wronged in some way. “I’ll explain once Roman moves himself into one of the guest rooms for the night.” The taller twin let out a long whistle, “That bad? Been a while since it got to that point.” Roman scoffed as he headed out. “Don’t bother Janus about this Roman!” Remus looked both confused and worried as Logan called his warning out for Roman to hear. The second the door closed, Remus slid himself into place to eat his fill. ‘So, gonna explain what that was about Doctor Who?” Remus asked, food spilling out a bit as he shoveled food in his mouth. Logan tugged his scarf off, wrapping Patton in it. The action brought comfort to Patton as he leaned his head against Logan’s neck. Logan then took his round visor off and proceeded to wipe it dry of tears. “Patton had some… emotional reactions to the after-effects to his connection yesterday-” Remus smacked his drink canister against the table, startling Logan but weirdly not phasing Patton. “Damn! That’s lasting longer than when you tried that on me! Totally decking the little guy out the next time we go out for beating my record, just you fucking wait!” Logan sighed at Remus’ antics, Patton’s mind lingering between his own and Virgil’s suddenly, comfort rushing over him at Remus’ less-than-pleasant words. This child is officially the oddest baby he’s ever met, which is weird, he tried shoving bugs in his hearing ports as a delinquent for Pete's sake! “Yes, well… when I was attempting to comfort him, Roman suddenly brought up the notion of punishing Virgil for things outside his control.” Patton would have worded it a bit differently, but he didn’t have the energy to add anything. Remus gripped his canister tighter, his eyes growing angrier and his smile becoming more clearly forced. “That is how I had felt, I called this out, as anybody should, but then Patton fully asked Roman why he’s so resentful of deathworlders as a whole. Let’s just say, the answer he gave caused Patton to spiral once more.” Remus’ eye twitched at the answer, Patton and Logan both became uneasy at the display of his hands gripping then relaxing in a repetitive pattern. Logan placed the thoroughly polished visor on the table. “You just happened to walk in as I put Roman in one of the guest rooms and sent him to eat alone for the day.” The green dressed twin let out a heavy sigh at this before looking at Patton. “You doing okay now Pat-cake?” The shorter alien nodded, putting up his pinky in confirmation. Thank god Remus understood that it was his kind’s symbol for ‘okay’ and not… well, this is Remus. Which is why he was surprised that he didn’t even giggle at it, just nodded in acceptance. “Once I finish eating, I gotta fill up Belly-Button’s bottle. Janus said he was gonna teach me how to dress him up! I’m _so_ finding matching hot dog costumes for us, it’ll be so _beautiful_!” Re explained, placing two hands over his chest, one on his hip, one giving a dramatic fist to the air, one holding his cheek, and the last wiping a non-existent tear. 

Despite the bubbling anger he just saw on Remus and the chaotic ideas that Remus has, it didn’t leave him fearful. He actually felt calm, comfortable here being held by Logan and watching Remus. This is probably what Virgil feels when he’s being held by Janus and watching Remus. He couldn’t help the slight tinge of jealousy at how quickly Virgil clung to Remus but seemed so scared of him yesterday. It probably helped that Remus is technically his dad and that Janus seems so much calmer around Remus than any of them so that probably helped Virgil like Remus so much quicker. This sort of ‘my parent trusts you, so I’ll trust you’ sort of thing. Even with that slight jealousy, he still found the idea of this chaotic wild guy, this never-ending force, being froze in place by the smallest thing done by any delinquent young one of the cutest things ever.

Yeah, things are feeling better. Everything will get just a little bit better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A drop of fluff, a handful of angst, and a whole bucket of feels, these are the ingredients to this trip of a chapter. Think my favorite part about this chapter was exploring Patton's own sense of logic when it comes to humans in particular. 
> 
> Also, Whoo! Double-Digit chapters! Bust out the party poppers!
> 
> I don't know why but I'm feeling extra pumped about this chapter, it's probably because of what I have planned for the next chapter. As for why Virgil doesn't know how to crawl in the flashbacks(I don't know if anyone would wonder this but I figured I'd clarify here.), imagine trying to crawl on what's basically a giant open wound across your chest whilst you've got a severe headache. Think that's enough said on that.


	11. Roman's Great Epoch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman comes to some realizations, his new revelations leads him to take action!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! TW for themes of abuse, PTSD, watching others experiencing possible Triggers, manipulation, etc.

He knew Logan wasn’t going to just accept a verbal apology when it comes to when he sends someone to sleep in a separate room for a little while. He’d always bring up how it’s supposed to be a time of self reflection, a time to think about how one could fix their mistakes, a way to get someone to confront their most glaring issues. He’s sure there would be some life forms out there that would see this as harsh to do towards any mate. However, it’s one of those things that’s worked extremely well on both himself and Patton many times in the past. Ironically, it’s even working now as he groggily woke up and stared at the dimness of his room. They were going to land on a new planet to take care of necessities before heading off again. Logan had expressed the day before that he didn’t find it appropriate for Roman to head out with them, as they were desperately working on Janus’ trust of him and Patton and that they ‘didn’t want to take any risks’. As if he’d be the one that would start trouble, even though Roman would have previously argued that it was all Janus.

… But, he couldn’t convince this in himself nowadays. Now, his mind would drift off here and there about the sorts of things he had said to Janus. His mind shifting back to when Remus had first brought Janus over, even with Remus’ previous heads up about him being a deathworlder, he was still stubborn. He was too focused on Janus’ gold scales, too focused on his slick back nearly white hair that was somehow lighter than his own, too focused on the sharp teeth as if it was somehow worse than his, too focused on the tar colored spines to recognise that janus hadn’t even looked at him in any way that would warrant his immediate scolding. Roman felt that he couldn’t ignore how often he had dismissed Janus’ words in the past over the smallest of things because ‘he’s a deathworlder- he wouldn’t understand’, how he’d be rude and expected to get away with it like it was okay,  _ how he ignored Janus’ cry when calling him a deathworlder when he just got back from- _

No. No, he couldn’t focus on that. He’s already made his mistakes, so all he can do now is try to make things better, try to change. Not just for the others, but for him too. He didn’t want to be the person who treated others like shit after experiencing stuff that would’ve broken him within the first ten minutes. He had to try to be… just a little bit like Remus right now. His clear issues with deathworlders will need to be confronted small first, his engrained bigotry won’t be solved all at once. So it’s best he starts with the two he lives with. He sat up in bed, contemplating how exactly he’d do so. He didn’t want to risk any progress Logan and Patton were getting now, and he wasn’t about to just say he was sorry, he had to show he was sorry. Stretching his six arms groaning, thinking about how he could tribute some level of effort on changing. He could probably scribble up a couple more commission in his studio, just so they have a few extra kaifid’s sooner or later. He found an extra dark crimson body suit as he reached for his matching bleached coat and pants, slipping his various hands over his cloudy grey face through his untamed cream and midnight streaked curls while he was deciding on which stones and gems to decorate himself with today. Just because he was planning on making up with everyone didn’t mean he had to look like a shrivelled up mess to do so, that might just come off as more artificial considering the circumstances. 

He sighed as he headed towards his studio, silently contemplating heading to Remus’ guest room before heading to his destination. He shook his head as he continued on, he’s still pretty sure Remus doesn’t want anything to do with him at the moment if his silent treatment has anything to say on it since he got suspended to one of the guest rooms. He casually walked in, flicking the dimmed lights on as he turned to his creative station. Only to freeze mid-turn when he heard whining.  _ Young  _ whining. He slowly turned the rest of the way only to be met with a fleshy young with fully cream hair. The tiny figure in a black bodysuit and a short sleeved grey hoodie, Only now does Roman realise how much warmer the room is than normal. There Virgil sat in the middle of the room, rubbing his eyes as he let out another whine. 

Roman snapped out of it at the sound, turning back around to dim the lights lower, the light clearly upsetting the cranky delinquent. He could internally hear Logan going over how Virgil was likely sensitive to light and how they shouldn’t overwhelm the little fella. Which is why his immediate next instinct was to crowch, make himself as small as possible. Tell him through action that he means no harm. Now the little fella seemed to just be grumbling, which is better than before. He scooted a bit closer. “Hey, What're you doing in here by yourself? Hm?” Virgil shoved his hand into his mouth, Lowly gurgling pass it. Roman slowly brought one hand out, gently grasping the tiny gripper of a hand while another slowly grabbed the blindox pacifier and placed it towards Virgil’s mouth. The young leaning forwards to grab it in himself, Roman’s glow flickered in a startled response, causing the baby to giggle at him. Soon, he found his hand caught in the young’s oddly tough grasp, he couldn’t stop his disgust from the sliminess of the young’s hand. Virgil didn’t seem to notice as he would shake his hand like a toy one moment and then squeezing his chubby hands over the glowing bands across his fingers, wrist, until Roman realized he was being pulled closer by the young a bit. “Huh.” Roman couldn’t hold back his surprise by these turn of events. Truthfully, he was expecting the young to somehow already hate him, or at least for the little one to be scared.

“Yeah, ‘huh’ is right.” ROman flicked his around, only to see a very pissed Remus. The two could only stare at each other for a moment. Only for Virgil to realize Remus there and hold Roman’s hand up, as if to show Remus Roman’s glowing. This didn’t pass his brother’s attention, as Remus gave a small smile at the curious bean. Roman swallowed, suddenly feeling intrusive. “Uh…” Remus’s gaze snapped back to Roman, it being cold again. He’s still not used to his brother’s anger, let alone that anger being directed towards him. “What are you doing here Roman?” The red-clad twin wobbly stood up, noticing the scolding pose Remus seems to be in. “Well-” Remus cut him off. “I’m not taking Virgil out of here. He’s your nephew now, your just gonna have to suck it up.” Roman perked up, “Actually-” Remus cut him off again. “No, this isn’t up for compromise. He’s staying period. Seriously Roman, this is being ridiculous. What’s it going to take for you to stop having a stick up your ass?!” Remus was clearly exacerbated, Roman suddenly carrying the same reaction at being interrupted. “Would trying to be better not work?” Roman couldn’t stop the thought crossing his mind about Remus’ instant defences. He couldn’t recall putting up a fight of any kind when it came to deathworlders, sure he was petty but it was never to the point of separating. The only time he had this thought was back when Janus was first back, and even then it was at least for a good reason. Could anyone blame him for assuming that Janus was being toxic to Remus? He wasn’t exactly told anything until it was screamed at him. 

...Who was he kidding? He may have had good intentions but looking back that was still a bad move to pull. Remus sighed, “That isn’t my call to make. You know this, Roman.” He froze before nodding, he probably should have expected this response. “Is there anything you need help with in the meantime?” Remus stood with his contemplating face, the one he'd have if he was planning something behind someone’s back. “Actually, I do have something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. Pick Virgil up for me?” Roman turned, looking at the young currently slowly crawling towards the two of them, seemingly struggling with keeping his own head up for long periods of time. Didn’t Logan say he should be at the age where doing so shouldn’t be as tough? He did say that the child was a lot smaller and lighter than most his age classification, he really wasn’t sure what normal was for any human young to begin with. The dramatic alien picked the young up slowly, not wishing to somehow invoke the little guy’s rage somehow. He could only gawk as the young kept yanking at his precious stones and gems, however. He seemed content with doing with them like he did most hands, apparently. Either shake them or try to eat them. “Oh yeah, be careful there. He also likes grabbing hair and poking eyes. Trust me, I figured  _ that  _ out the hard way.” Roman snapped his eyes to him, shocked by this. “So- What? Does he get enjoyment out of being destructive or something?” He couldn’t help his clear confusion as he tried wrapping his head around human youth in particular. Remus just shrugged. “Eh, his brain is way too tiny to really understand better, all he knows is that hair and eyes exist and that he’s just gotta look and poke.” Roman nodded, still not entirely sure if that’s the case, but is willing to just roll with it. But he wasn’t going to let him chew on his precious treasures! He pulled his accessories away before plucking the binky back in the young’s mouth.

  
  
  
  
  


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He wasn’t expecting Remus to lead him to the hallway bathroom to the endless counter with hair supplies already spewed about. Nor was he Expecting the little bag of frozen fruit samples from Logan’s freezer with the labels still on them. “Uh… are you sure we should be using those samples-’ Remus jumped over his question. “Of course Dr. Suess! They’re fruit from Earth after all. And besides, what’s Logan gonna do with an Earth Kiwi, grow a fungus on it?” Roman didn’t dare answer, even if he wasn’t the most familiar with the various fields Logan jumped head-first into he at least knew that yes, Logan was very likely trying to grow a fungus on at least one of these fruits. Remus shrugged at whatever face Roman was pulling. “Well, it’s not like I didn’t read over Logan’s unused samples. Even  _ I’m  _ not that crazy, Roman.” Roman let out a heavy sigh as Remus winked at Virgil, who just cooed at his chaotically cool dad. “Anyways, I need your help with distracting him while I trim his chaotic locks. Think you can pull it off?” Remus’ grin was much wider than usual, mirth in his eyes, clearly teasing Roman. Roman scoffed at his much taller twins’ antics. “Of course I can distract a baby Remus-”

“That’s the spirit! Now, let’s get to work!” Remus stretched his limbs, causing them to crackle unnaturally and Roman to physically cringe. Unlike in humans, that popping usually means one has dislocated their limbs then somehow popped it back into place. Roman and Virgil looked at each other, only for Virgil to try  _ flinging himself back! _ Roman couldn’t stop asking himself  _ why would any child mimic Remus in any situation?!  _ Remus cackled at Roman’s bug-eyed reaction and how he was desperately holding Virgil with all his hands now, clearly trying to keep the baby stable. The chaotic twin grabbed Virgil from Roman’s hands and placed him in a booster seat in front of the mirror. Roman couldn’t help taking notice how gently Remus was putting the neck cloth around Virgil’s tiny neck, or how Remus was showing Virgil the tools he was gonna use. It was practically night and day when it came to if Remus tried cutting his hair. He couldn’t help the smidge pin of jealousy at the display. He was even surprised when Remus was holding up different kiddie patterns for Virgil to pick! Virgil had leaned towards this emo-mohawk combination Remus was far too proud of making, with a basic lined triangle on each side of his head. Remus gestures towards him, clearly wanting Virgil’s attention drawn away from the scissors he was holding. Roman went with holding Virgil’s hands, gently flashing his glow to grab his attention. It worked for a moment… until Remus went for a snip. Yeah, he wasn’t entirely sure how Remus expected to cover that up to the clearly confused child. Before Roman could think, he rushed his hands over to one of the sliced fruit samples, hoping the fruit would be any sort of distracting. Virgil just seems more confused, but at least that confusion is directed to the frozen food. Remus resumed snipping chunks from the young’s head of endless curls, only for Remus to suddenly grab one of the shavers and turn it on. The sound physically startling Virgil as he begins to whimper with fruit in his mouth. Roman isn’t sure what to do,He’s got fruit, he’s got a lightshow, what else is he missing?! “Psst! Roman. Sing something.” Roman whipped his head towards Remus’ whispering. “I don’t wanna keep going if he’s gonna have a breakdown and I’d rather show Janus a  _ complete _ haircut rather than an _ incomplete _ one.” Roman stuttered before beginning to recite the first thing to pop to mind. An old bar song he’s heard Remus sing a few too many times. “Don’t do that one! I don’t want him hearing that and mimicking it around Janus!” Roman was too taken aback by Remus’ distressed whispering for his own good. Roman cleared his throat, suddenly thinking of this one rebelion song from back home. Remus seemed to relax at this, While Virgil had begun focusing solely on him again, even with slight glances towards Remus every once in a while. The action oddly reminds himself of when he would sit in a barber’s chair as a little tike and getting too confused or curious of the noises behind me while Remus would try fleeing the chair and stealing the supplies. 

As Remus wiped down the child’s head a bit to clean up any loose hairs, Remus delicately plucked the neck cloth off and scooped him up in his arms. The child whining out at the speed and jostling, Remus apologising as he held a mirror out for the little guy to see the haircut himself. Only Virgil didn’t seem to fully grasp he was looking at himself, as he seemed more intent with trying to hide from the reflection. Roman couldn’t help thinking the weird emo-mohawk weirdly worked on the child, the endless curls helping bring the haircut to this weird ‘cute’ look. He couldn’t stop himself from noticing how Remus seemed to stop right below the scarline on the child’s head, said scar’s being hidden amongst the endless curls. Remus handed Virgil a really cut up slice of earth banana and Virgil munching on it content. Roman hummed at the little action. Remus looked at Roman with a questioning glance. “I didn’t know human’s were omnivores. I thought they only ate the young of their enemies.” Remus quietly cackled at Roman before sighing. Remus began walking back out of the bathroom, heading back towards the studio. “Wait! Aren’t you gonna clean this up?” Remus looked over his shoulder towards Roman. “I’ll clean it when Janus comes back and he sees this sick due.” Roman sighed, hoping his brother will keep his word on this.

Sitting in the studio, finally, was a bit more distracting than he thought it would be. For starters, Remus won’t stop taking loud pictures of Virgil’s new hair. For another, Virgil won’t stop trying to smack the wall showing the projection of what he’s working on. On top of that, Remus won’t shut his music up that’s somehow controlling his own child into dancing in his seat, which is super distracting to watch out of the corner of his eyes.Thankfully, he’s able to get through a handful of commissions before he just gives up. At some point, Remus pulls up a baby tabloid for Virgil to add his own drawing to the wall. Which is just a bunch of unplanned scribbles! And he’s still dancing! Don’t get him wrong, the dancing in his seat is adorable, so are the happy squeals that come out every once in a while, and his moment’s of shock followed by laughter when a beat drops and he isn’t expecting it. Remus taps one of Roman’s elbows. “Y’know what the most beautiful thing about deathworlders is?” Roman sat, too stunned to respond. Remus continues regardless, staring at Virgil’s little dancing and incoherent shouting along to the music. “It’s the fact their bodies could never show a scrape or scar, but their minds will. Even if those scars are from something small to most or were from a time long forgotten. The scars will still be there.” The red-clad grevnjii just stares for a moment, unsure how to fully take what his twin just said. It disturbed him, made him curious, made him feel softer and colder at the same time. Remus seems to ignore Roman’s internal conflict. “How’s the old double-turds nowadays, huh?” Roman snaps out of it, suddenly focusing back on Remus’ question. He… didn’t want to talk about how they reacted when he called them last. Especially since the situation felt too serious for them to have been so giddy. Their reactions feel more suspicious now that he has a slightly better grasp on the situation with Janus, he isn’t sure why but he has a sneaking suspicion about something. But he isn’t sure he wants to bring it up to Remus just yet, not until he has something a bit more solid. “Eh, you know. Same old, same old.” Remus leans in his direction slightly. “So basically still bigotted, Xenophobic, prudish asses?” Roman reluctantly nodded, not wanting to give him false hope over them changing. Thankfully, his brother seemed less upset at it and more mocking in it, if his sticking out his tongue is any indication. Roman suddenly found himself thinking, mostly about the reunions he went to from Patton and Logan. Suddenly their discomfort was making a bit more sense, he was making them uncomfortable because he was being a bigot. It wasn’t because they had the same reaction, it explains why cousin Hart always looked so close to punching him so many times. Yeah… he’ll need to make this up their families too, wont he? “Hey, Remus?” The twins look straight through each other, like they’re both ghosts. “I won’t go to anymore family reunions.” Roman almost smiles at Remus’ owlish look across his face before the chaotic twin grins large at him. “Thanks little bro.” Virgil giggles at Roman’s rapid flashing as he groans at being called ‘little’ again, at least it feels like old times.

The intercom dings, indicating the others have returned to the ship. Remus bolted upright as he rushed over to Virgil, slowly picking the squishy thing up as he soon rushed out the door. “Hey Janus! Janus! Check out the little man’s new dew!” He could hear Janus’ shriek of ‘Remus! What did you do?!’ He couldn’t keep himself from chuckling at the odd dynamic they had, especially when it came to their baby. He left the studio to join everybody else. “Roman helped me out, doesn’t he look great?” Janus turned his gaze towards Roman, while Patton was squealing at the sight of Virgil and Logan merely chuckled. The ceiling suddenly looked more interesting, was that a new painting on the other side of the room? Remus nudged Roman, like he was trying to focus him on Janus. Right, the apology and making things right stuff. The shortest cleared his throat, “I… wanted to apologize for how I’ve been. That wasn’t okay, never was.” Roman held his wrist up in pause, already seeing Janus open his mouth. “There’s no words to justify my actions, and I don’t expect you to suddenly trust me. But, I would like to at least try to make things right between us. Would you be up for that at some point? When your ready?” He asks, slipping his hand down, finished with what he had wanted to say. “Well, I appreciate the gesture, just one thing to start that forgiveness train?” Roman glanced up at the tallest, leaning back slightly to properly look the snow haired Klrunaq in the eyes, nodding at him. “Don’t ever help Remus with something like this again unless I’m present.” Before Roman could say anything Remus butt in. “Oh, don’t you worry Janny. He didn’t do any of the trimming, he just kept the little guy calm and happy is all!” He explained, as if that was the glaring issue… which Roman was sure wasn’t. Janus sighed before looking back at Roman. Roman gave him a Vixcove okay gesture, which was really bopping one hand into the palm of the other hand. Janus nodded at this, thankfully understanding which gesture he was aiming for. 

He turned his gaze to Logan, who was helping Patton put some of their shopped goods into the living section of the ship. “Logan, I’ll need your assistance ASAP once you're done with helping Patton. It;s super important.” Logan looked confused, but nodded at him regardless. “Good, I’ll meet you in the Tech Lab, but we’ll be moving to Communications shortly after. Okay?” Roman didn’t wait this time, as he twirled around heading towards the already mentioned Tech Lab. His Stones and Gems jingling as he went. He couldn’t hesitate for a second longer, his hesitence has already screwed him over a bit when it mattered. But now he’s gonna do what he should have done a long time ago.

Once Logan finally arrived from helping with Patton, he needed Logan’s assistance with setting up a strong recorder to the communication dock. Roman held his hand up before Logan could ask what it was for. “I can’t explain just yet. Just know that it’s extremely necessary to have.” Logan nodded, not pushing any further. He must be assuming it’s to track any of Janus’ calls, Roman can’t help but grimace at the thought. Heck, he’d have good reason to assume so, Janus is much more of the tech alien on the ship after all. But, he couldn’t risk Janus misunderstanding his intentions and react worse to his ramblings, “Something was off with my parents when we called them.” Logan scoffed, rolling his eyes. “This again? Look, as i said they were likely sickenly giggly with Janus’ sudden disappearance. I don’t see-” Roman cut him off. “Do you remember how they were acting before that? They were far too excited over “nothing” then too. And at least that time, Remus wasn’t freaking out over Janus getting abducted.” Logan seemed confused at Roman’s words. “What does that have to do with-” Roman grimaced at Logan’s pause. His fin flipped up in alarm. “You don’t think…” A huff of frustration slipped past Roman’s lips. “What else could it be?” Logan looked back to the communication setup. “Look, it’s just a hunch right now. But maybe. Maybe. If I can trick them into thinking Janus is still missing and that I ‘finally gave up on the family disappointment.’” Roman held up air quotes. “Then maybe I can get them to spill something that they wouldn’t otherwise spill.” Logan just stared at him shocked by his plan. “... Very well, I’ll assist with this plan. What do you need?” A sigh of relief shrieked out of Roman, relief flooding him that Logan likes this plan. “Aside from this stronger recorder, I’ll need you to keep Remus and Janus as far from the communication deck as possible. We’ll also need a code saying to let each other know about when calls are happening to avoid just blurting out that they’re calling because that implies I still side with them- why are you giving me that look?” He couldn’t help shifting in place as Logan continued to stare at him. “You are getting  _ extremely  _ spoiled for the next  _ month  _ and getting bragged about at all the family get-togethers this year if this all goes according to plan.” The shortest alien couldn’t help his happy squeal at the notion of either, positive attention one hell of a motivator. Call him selfish for that being his next strongest motivation, he’s almost giddy by the ideas he’s got in mind for this theoretical month. No time to focus on that, he’s gotta focus on catching his parents with their pants down, thank the cosmos it’s only figuratively.

  
  
  
  
  


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Roman takes a few deep breaths while Logan sets the recorder up, both seemingly excited by this plan. It wasn’t rare for him and Logan to agree on something, but it wasn't common either. So moments like this meant everything to the both of them. The two sit there, whispering out the details of their plan and strategies to each other, working out the biggest holes and agreeing to practice their body languages for a bit. They momentarily question if they should bring Patton into this too, but agree against it. They love Patton, but he isn’t the best when it comes to lying or tricking others into revealing private details. This’ll be a Roman and Logan project, it’ll be just like their adventurer days! The notion fueling their excitement further. Roman pulled a straight face as he pulled his parent’s ship code up. Waiting for Logan to leave so he doesn’t get too distracted by his also happy energy and to make sure Remus and Janus aren't too close by while he makes this call. He wouldn’t want to try repairing a damaged bridge only for it to turn to ash as he’s trying to fix it. That excitement slowly bleeds into an anxious feeling in the pit of his gut as he tries to call his parents.

_ Ring! _ Roman analyzes the smallest pixel on the screen, gulping as he does so.

_ Ring! _ He takes a sip from his water, hoping to calm his nerves just a bit.

_ Ri- _

_ “Hello?... Roman! If it isn’t my only son! How have you been, darling~?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo! This chapter is a CHONKY boi. I'm honestly probably a bit hyped by this little side arc I've got plotted out in my head for Roman. I cannot wait to start adding the other chapters to this one, I'm a bit too giddy at the notion. I just gotta sit down to type it out.
> 
> Also yeah, I named this chapter after a Living Tombstone Remix, sue me. It just felt fitting in the moment.


	12. Bundle of Buggers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus spends the night keeping an eye on Virgil, Logan comes in which leads to Remus needed a little talk with Janus in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! TW for Toxic Parents, Mentioned Physical Trauma, Crying, etc.  
> (please tell me if I've missed any!)

He’s pretty sure humans are one of those species where their young doesn’t stop waking up in the middle of the night until a lot later in their development. He can’t even really find it in himself to complain about this hypothesis, he’s at least 72 earth years old and he still finds himself waking up in the middle of the night. That may still be pretty young for his home planet, but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna be waking Janus up during these times. His boo’s been so anxious and stressed over everything, that once he finally falls asleep he can’t find it in himself to even try waking him… well, except the first time when he didn’t understand the tiny mush brain of his son… Son. He hadn’t really thought much of it since this all started, but he  _ is _ a dad now. Looking down at the gurgling flabby baby, he can’t help but have the word circle around his head. A part of him feels… a bit gross, thinking of it. The things they said growing up about him, the things they did over him trying to find a mate in a deathworlder, it was too much. His unusual extra height over the whole family made him the obvious ‘black sheep’ as earth dwellers would call him. They didn’t even support him going outer-broad for a deathworlder study course, saying how deranged he would be if he went through with it. He doubts he’ll be anything like his own ‘parents’ when it comes to Virgil- his son  _ is  _ a deathworlder, so that bypasses one thought at least. But, that doesn’t mean the titles making him feel any better. It left a bad feeling in his gut. Maybe he can come up with a different nickname for himself for the little guy to use, or maybe he’d be able to come up with something, or maybe even-

It takes him a moment to realize that the tiny grunting filling the silent room was coming from Virgil. The little guy’s legs seemingly strained a bit as he’s keeping a grip on the side of the carrier he’s been moved to. The two stare at each other for a moment before Virgil jerks his eyes over to Janus in the resting pod and spits his pacifier out. “Lello!” Remus rushes his hands around, startled by Virgil’s calling of Janus. 

_ Shit, SHIT! Don’t wake Janus up! _ Was rushing through his mind.

Virgil jolts at Remus’ actions before giggling at him. A sigh escapes Remus’ lips as he slumps back in the chair next to Virgil’s resting place. “Shhh, don’t be loud, don’t wake ‘Lello’. Okay?” Is all he can muster before staring at Virgil whilst the little guy starts making a grabby-hand gesture with only one hand, did he really think all his arms were meant for his amusement?... Well, he’d be partially right. He was about to respond to his beans actions but was cut off by the door’s sudden opening.

He felt conflicted as he watched Logan peak his head in, clearly watching to see if anyone was awake. The science-focused alien quietly shuffling towards them… well, more Virgil. He doubted that the alien could even make him out at the moment. Logan’s species wasn’t exactly known for good night vision, but it was still pretty amusing to the lanky alien as if it was some inside joke between him and Virgil. He’s pretty confused about why Logan is holding each hand out for Virgil to touch, though. What? Did he think Virgil wasn’t able to do that or something? He’s been in the same room as Janus whenever he was doing typical youth stuff, why would Logan think Virgil wouldn’t be able to manage that? His confliction just morphed into confusion as he watched, he couldn’t really see anything of note that made Virgil stick out so much to him. Sure the kid had a lot of physical issues but that seriously can’t be enough of a reason for a surprise visit. And now Logan is shifting from smiling to frowning. Repeatedly. Was he trying to figure out if Virgil could recognize reactions? He’s a human, it would be super weird if he wasn’t. What was Logan even looking for? He really couldn’t blame Virgil for ignoring Logan when he started slowly moving his finger from one side of his face to the other, his fingers didn’t even have glow-bands across them, why did he think that would work? The grin slipping onto his face when Logan was confused on why Virgil was so focused on what would probably be just an empty chunk of the room.

Remus held his voice to a whisper, not wanting to alert Janus. “Whatchu doing space cadet?” He was glad Virgil giggled at Logan’s sudden jolt, at least one of them was entertained. He watched Logan readjust his visor, clearly nervous that either parent was awake. 

“I apologize, Janus, I didn’t mean to offend-”

Remus cut him off, “I’m the other one, don’t worry.” It was amusing to watch Logan instantly begin to relax as if Janus was ever a threat. Remus couldn’t keep from mentally scoffing at the thought. Sure, Janus is way more territorial than him, but he wasn’t feral. And it was pretty obvious to anybody that knows Janus that the thing that happened in the medical bay was clearly some trauma reaction and not over nothing. He wished he could know what the specific trigger was though, just so he can help better next time…

The finned crewmate slowly came to Remus’ side of the room, Virgil plopping down and stared up at the adults in the room. “The scan results for Virgil revealed some… troubling details. I only wish to make sure any possible brain damage is minimum and to try implementing extra treatment as soon as possible. That and there are other factors to his medical conditions that will require some extra supervision. I know Janus doesn’t have many reasons to trust us, but these are things that cannot be potentially ignored.” 

Remus glanced over to Virgil, who was still sitting pretty. He put one of the quieter squishy toys in there, just to keep the little guy occupied before turning to Logan. “What were you able to find? Give me the details.” He opted to ignore Logan’s nervous shifting, this is something he needs to know. If Janus can’t find it in himself to elaborate then that’ll have to do for now.

  
  
  
  
  


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Remus could only sit with his head in his hands. The things Logan described, what was missing, what was supposed to be there. It all left a large weight in the center of his chest. He really didn’t have the slightest idea about how bad it really was. Sure, he had disturbing ideas about what exactly happened. But, suddenly having this, made him somewhat wish that he stayed ignorant. He didn’t fight himself when he picked a dozing Virgil out of his pod, startling the little one a bit, and holding him close with all his arms. He didn’t fight himself when he tensed a bit, feeling the scars along the young’s back, the rough skin across his knees, it left him feeling so much more helpless than before. “This is why I wanted to examine Virgil further, on a behavioral level that is.” Remus huffed out, suddenly grasping just a bit more why Janus has been so protective of Virgil since day one. The two stood there in silence for a moment. “I don’t believe Janus would go out of his way to ignore any medical necessities Virgil will clearly need, either soon or in the much further future. But I feel it would be best to pick up what needs to be done early on for everyone to take part in. I wouldn’t want something being unsaid to result in another incident like what happened between him and Patton. That’ll just harm everyone instead of help, even for Janus.” Remus didn’t move, he just listened to the slow breathing coming from Virgil. He couldn’t help noticing how one side of his body didn’t quite raise the same amount as the other, the feeling causing him to gulp. What kind of side effects could something like a missing Lung cause? How badly does he gotta fight now that there’s such an easy way to end this young? The sigh that slipped past his lips felt shakier than he’s ever liked. 

“Okay, I’ll let you do your little check-up, under two conditions though.” He stared at Logan as the alien’s fin flipped up in surprise followed by a tight-locked nod. “One, you’re gonna do this with either my or Janus’ supervision. None of this ‘doing it behind the parents back’ fuckery.” Logan pulled his tablet out, seemingly making these rules into notes. At least Logan gave enough of a shit to try remembering once it’s first explained to him… even if him just doing these things in the first place would’ve been better. “Secondly, you’re gonna do these things in the day. I don’t wanna find out that you were taking extra notes late at night on camera’s or some shit.” 

Logan nodded as he finished writing. “I do have a few more tests I’d like to do, would you prefer I do them now or in the morning?” He couldn’t ignore how nervous Logan sounded asking that like he was expecting to be scolded when Remus had  _ just  _ lied these two rules down not even a minute ago. He could feel Virgil shuffling awake again in his hold, pretty convenient timing if he had to be honest. Either that or the little guy had hearing sensitivity worse than Janus, the thought leaving Remus to feel a bit guilty. Tonight was just going to all be guilt, won’t it?

“You can finish your tests, but afterward the rules go into place.” He placed Virgil back into his pod, dimming himself as he headed back to the chair to watch the two.

  
  
  
  
  


. *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• . *•. . *. ~• • *. • .*•. •: ‘.* “. •. * .• 

  
  
  
  
  


Remus stretched as the ship’s lights brightened slightly, indicating it’s morning now. Remus found himself holding Virgil again, not as tightly nor with as many arms as earlier that night, but still wanting to keep him close. He even found himself nuzzling into the young’s head as he carefully brushed his fingers through his boy’s hair. The sound of Logan clearing his throat drawing his attention over. “I should still make note that I may need another scan of Janus’ medical status.” Remus tensed at the notion, recalling how he was when Virgil was getting scanned, let alone how Janus would react to being scanned. The two were silent for a moment before Logan continued, “I understand that Janus may have some… opinions on such a thing, but these scans aren’t just for the safety of the crew. If we can get a better idea of what may or may not have happened while Janus was abducted, then it may help with various future interactions and endeavors.” 

That wording felt off. Remus wasn’t an idiot, he always knew Logan spoke with clear intent, he wasn’t entirely sure how to take that word choice. “What do you mean by ‘endeavors?’” 

Logan stared at Remus confused before his eyes widened. “I mean, in the instance, he requires medical attention and we don’t possibly know what actions could likely cause something to go wrong. If we at least have a scan then at least it’s a figurative step in the right direction.” Remus didn’t feel convinced of this but nodded regardless, he’ll just keep an extra few eyes out for any foul play.

“The scanning thing isn’t up to me though, I may be his mate but I don’t make that call for him. Never did, and never will… except if he asks for it, then it’s a maybe.” The time Janus couldn’t hear for a few days after a recall mission one time flashed through his mind, how Janus couldn’t understand anything and had let Remus decide on what would happen being played in his thoughts as he looked at Virgil tucked in his arms.

Logan readjusted his visor and nodded his understanding as he headed towards the door. “Well, since I’ve completed all I needed to for the time being, I’ll leave you to your youth supervising.” That was all that was expressed before the door closed, not even allowing a window opportunity for him to make a sex joke. His loss then, he can just whisper them to himself… hopefully, Virgil won’t really hear them in his sleep. As he sat there, whispering jokes, slightly humming the most vulgar songs he can think of that no baby would know the tune of… yet, even squeezing in the occasional clicking sounds he’s made at Janus before over how freaking cute he’d look in his sleep! It wasn’t until he made just a bit too much noise and seemed to wake both Janus and Virgil up, well shit. Thankfully Virgil seemed to fall right back to sleep, Remus’ pretty sure logan unintentionally just fucked up Virgil’s sleep schedule. Yeah, Janus won’t like that, about as much as having been woken up since he sat up with that mask on his face and still wearing layers. A part of Remus feels a bit hurt over Janus’ reluctance to not wear that mask to bed, let alone how Janus hasn’t worn just a base jumpsuit to bed since this whole fuck show’s started, but he can’t help but feel a bit guilty. He can’t stop blaming himself a bit for Janus to be so broken down as of late. 

“Remus, hon, what are you doing up? Did you even sleep last night?” 

He couldn’t suppress a chuckle at Janus’ caring attitude, even with being abruptly woken up.

“Nah, I did. Just not much. Virgil’s good late-night company though, even he does end up smelly sometimes.” Pride flew through his system at Janus’ amused snort as he had grabbed some other clothes and dragged himself to the bathroom to change.

As he waited he decided Virgil’s tiny baby human toes would be a good distraction. Human toe beans, so cute, so wholesome. The things Logan brought up shifting in his head, he needs to talk to Janus about these things. A part of him feels that the longer things aren’t talked about the more Janus would hide away. He slipped Virgil gently back into his carrier and headed over to the bathroom door.

Based on how Janus has been recently, he’s pretty sure just walking in like he usually did wouldn’t be greeted with indifference this time. So he went with knocking as his next best guess. 

“Janny-bee? Can we talk? It’s nothing bad, but I do think it’s kinda important.” He could hear slight shuffling and noise of acknowledgment. His satisfaction fed a bit for now as he went back to the bed to sit, he had to think out his words carefully. It wasn’t long until Janus came back in, different getup but still covered in layers and that same mask.

“So, what was it that you needed to talk about? Something Roman did, I assume?” Janus’ false confidence clear to Remus and Remus’ eyes alone, his subtle gestures showing how anxious his partner is. He gestured next to himself, he wanted Janus comfortable before going into anything possibly upsetting. His tall partner reluctantly did so, grabbing one of his hands all the while.

“I just wanted to let you know that Logan came in last night- nothing bad, mind you. Just some basic interaction tests with Virgil.” 

Janus’ eyes widened, “What was he in here for?”

Remus placed a hand over Janus’, “Don’t worry, just simple stuff like reading faces and following eye things.” Janus seemed to calm significantly at this, some of that energy still lingering silently. “He did bring up the results of Virgil’s scan though. I just gotta ask, Babe, how much did you know exactly?” He felt his partner’s hand tense at the question. “I’m not mad boo, I just wanna know.”

“I don’t know what you're talking about, nothing happened to Virgil, his ribs are fine, his brain is fine, he’s perfectly fine Remus.” He could only blink in surprise, how… how much has Janus been denying whatever happened?

“Jan, I’m not upset at you for what happened. You know that, right?” A squeeze to Janus’ hand being his further comfort. Janus pulled his hand back, however.

“I… don’t want to talk about it. I shouldn’t focus on it, I have to-” Remus cut him off. 

“That’s not how trauma works. Boo, if anyone would understand that then it would be you.” Janus looked at the dresser, trying to keep his focus from this conversation. “Who was there for me when my parents disowned me?” Remus watched as Janus snapped his gaze back towards him.

“Remus, that isn’t-”

“Who was there?”

He watched as Janus took in a slight gulp of air. “I was there but-”

He cut him off, he needed Janus to understand. “That’s right, you were! You remember what you said?”

An exacerbated sigh slipped out of Janus. “Remus, this doesn’t-”

“You said, and I’ll quote! ‘Darling, I’m so sorry about what happened. But please know that you’re parents are wrong, there’s so much more to you that they’re just too blind to see. It might not be okay now, but I promise to be by your side long after it is again.’ You wanna know what I think?” He brought all his hands over and around Janus’ hands and wrists. “I think it’s about time I did the same back, don’t you think?” he kept his gentle glow as he rubbed circles into Janus’ hands.

The two stared at each other, Remus could only watch as Janus’ eyes slowly began drowning in an endless mess of emotions. He had taken a few of his hands out of Janus’ and held them out as Janus leaned forward into his embrace. Sure Janus was a bit hunched over like this, but at least this gave comfort. He listened and caressed Janus as he sobbed into his neck, he could feel how his hair was uneven. Did… did those smugglers…? Janus tucked his face away from Remus, the smooth mask rubbing against him as he moved.

“You do know that whole thing with your parents was somewhat  _ my  _ fault right?” He pulled Janus closer, tugging him into his lap. 

“Oh? I didn’t realize you were the one who was doing all the harassing just to be teammates!” He cackled as Janus bashfully yelped when he began petting his tail, his favorite spot. The big grin was still being there, especially when Janus nuzzled into his shoulder, purring all the while. This felt familiar, Janus bundled up in his arms, just enjoying each other’s company. “Logan told me that he’ll need a scan from you at some point though.” The muffled whine that came from his partner filled him with both mirth and worry. He couldn’t keep from cooing a bit at his partner. “I don’t really like those things much either, would it make you feel better if Virgil and I came along?” Relief waved over Remus when Janus shyly nodded into his neck. “Y’know, Virgil really likes callin’ you ‘Lello’,” His partner groaned out his embarrassment, “and I was wondering when I’ll get my Virgil-made parent name?” He had mostly meant it as a joke, but a part of him was curious how long it took for Janus to get called… whatever the fuck ‘Lello’ even was.

“It didn’t take long, really. I would perhaps guess within the first thirty seconds or so?” Remus pouted a bit at this, he was kinda hoping it had taken longer. He did feel a bit better when he could hear his partner’s amused chuckle, “I take it you want some odd term for yourself too?” He couldn’t help nodding at the truth, the idea of being called ‘Dad’ still didn’t feel right. Janus sluggishly got up from Remus’ cocoon hold. “As… helpful as this whole conversation has been, I really should check some of the machinery on the ship, I heard some odd noises last night after dinner and it should be taken care of soon.” He watched Janus readjust his cloak and check on Virgil before he headed out with a slight grin plastered on his face.

That was… somehow a great step in the right direction. Odd, usually something would go seriously wrong somewhere along the way, but that went incredibly smooth. He heard cooing from Virgil’s pod, how does this kid keep waking up? “Heya little bugger, did you have a good sleep?” The coo back unavoidable when he felt Virgil rub the shaved part of his head against his hand, some of the curls grabbing at his arm. He found the little mumbling too endearing to not just nod along for the hell of it. “I think you should get some baby food in that gullet of yours, how about that? Wanna go raid Uncle Roman’s food boxes?” He plucked Virgil out of his carrier and went to take care of their morning routine. Once he got to the eating area he put the tiny tike in his seat at the table and ruffled his hair before heading towards the cooking station to make something for the little guy to eat. He hummed another vulgar song, hoping it would let Virgil know he was still there.

“Gowree!”

“Gowree!”

… “Gowree!”

_ … OH, MY STARS- _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha! you thought this would continue from what happened in the last chapter? Sike! Ya get a dive more into Remus and Janus' relationship instead!


	13. New Faces and a Much Needed Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone goes to a mall in grevnjii territory, there they meet two new faces. Soon after, Janus and Roman finally talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! TW for the following: trauma flashbacks, interacting with strangers, mean Janus a bit.

‘This is the worst plan,’ were the words flying through Janus’ head on repeat as he and Remus sat in the kiddie area of yet another market port. The screaming of all the tots running about leaving him feeling suffocated as he kept a close eye on Virgil sitting, picking at the fake fur of his plush Movrick.  _ ‘He coils at the feeling of the guards holding his arms down as the cold skinning device shredded another chunk from his blood-drenched face-’ _

He felt a gentle squeeze of his hand, glancing over to see one of Remus’ hands tangled with his. He snaked a look at Remus’ face, a look of worry hidden poorly by his small smile. He let out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding, feeling a rush of relief flood over as Remus patted the top of his hand comfortingly. “You good babe? Do ya need a minute?” Janus flashed Remus a small smile, leaning on his shoulder as he propped his elbow on his baby bag full of Virgil’s stuff for outings like this. 

“It’s fine darling, just a bit loud. Nothing I can’t handle.” He nuzzled himself a bit further into Remus’ arm, looking back to Virgil. His small smile dropped, he couldn’t help noticing how so many of the other parents seem to be actively trying to keep their children away from his young. It wasn’t even like Virgil was even intimidating by grevnjii standards. Perhaps Virgil’s lack of realizing that his plush isn’t a chew toy for him is what’s causing that confusion, Janus highly doubts this is the case- the plush doesn’t even resemble any age or form of the creature, after all, It had eight eyes, a bulb nose, and had twelve legs… okay, perhaps bringing this one wasn’t their brightest move. But even then, Virgil had just sat there and would crawl away a bit if he felt anyone was getting too close. If anything, Virgil was probably wary of them!

Snapping his attention back he saw… another human baby?! Here?! He peeked his head up, focusing fully on the two young. This other baby had some… shade visors? Odd, even stranger was the fact that this baby looked to be wearing a brown vest with a, as the baby faced his back to him and Remus, a Hindrox coffee logo. He didn’t even know those were a thing… Remus seemed to catch on to what he was seeing too as he slowly stood up. “I’ll go sit with Virgil for a little bit, ‘kay boo?” The taller alien snorted as he gave his mate a brief kiss on the cheek before nodding his approval.

Remus was curious, what were the chances of there being another human, in Grevnjii territory no less! He couldn’t bother to care as some parents with their kids rushed past him as he reached his grouchy little bean. He plopped down behind Virgil, not paying this new baby much mind, he didn’t want to risk giving eye contact and scaring it. He couldn’t help himself when he began doing little games with Virgil, loving the happiest giggles ever would spill out of his mouth. Bonus points if he got the other human youth to giggle too since the little fella was way sassier than he was expecting, acting like he was too cool to laugh at points. It didn’t matter to him if those around them acted freaked out by it, it wasn’t like it was some war call or some cry for help, it was releasing happy chemicals in their heads! He was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the hindrox sitting behind the human baby. Ah. Invisibility. “I’m really surprised by how well you are at recognizing human behavior. Most people from around here seem to react to the slightest creature, not from their planet like some horrific beast. “

The sudden appearance of this new face left him reeling for a moment, taking in as many details as possible. Hindrox has been noted by humans as ‘looking like some form of a chameleon and bee hybrid’. He could listen to humans comparing new stuff to things from their home all day, & it would never get old. The species has always been known for its four legs, for its wings, even for its everywhere seeing eyes and three-hundred and sixty-degree head. Even as he watches this one before him, the notable streaks of black known for these guys are shown with no hesitation. Either this person really trusts Remus right away or this person’s giving him the warning to back off, and he can’t even tell which it is. The hexagon themed visor makes him think that they get human humor, even if no one else would get it. Everything else seems pretty normal, pale lavender scale is pretty common for these guys, the white bodysuit, cream coat, beige pants, and the bandana around his neck are all quite common for these guys to wear. Maybe the bandana having a pink and light blue gradient is a bit different, but aside from that, he looks like he’d be right at home at one of those loading docs, or maybe even as an adventurer. Remus snapped his focus back on their conversation. “Well, when you and your mate spend a few years at human-populated areas, ya start to pick up on a few things, ya know?” 

The stranger smiled without showing teeth, even if Remus was all teeth. “I know! I was a human therapist for a few years before I switched over to wanting to work in cartoons, it’s such a weirdly fascinating genre of entertainment on earth, especially if you take in the planets over one hundred different cultures!” The stranger let out a content sigh, focusing on his own young, who’s been trying to get Virgil to grab one of his squishy blocks by bopping it against the albino young’s leg. Remus couldn’t help finding Virgil’s confused swatting at the other the cutest thing ever. “Oh! My names Emile Picani! You can call me either part of my name, I don’t really have a preference.” Remus blinked in confusion upon realizing Picani was holding his hand out.

He shook the guy’s hand with vigor back. “The names Remus Garvihand, just call me Remus,” he expressed with a bit of excitement seeking into his hollow bones. Did he just help get Virgil a life-long buddy? Neat!

He couldn’t help noticing his partner’s shadow elope the four of them, his partner slowly setting himself down with his Virgil Bag. The moment Virgil realized Janus was there, he instantly ignored this other young to be with Virgil, the child whining at Virgil’s oh so young deviancy. His own boy ditching his own kind for those he loves, he can’t decide between laughing at the irony or crying at how much love he’s got for this tiny being. His body seems to decide on a wheeze at the display, which Picani seems to have no issue giggling at it all. “Hey, there. My name is Emile Picani.” He waved at Janus, Remy mimicking his parent’s gesture. 

Janus gave a slight sneer as he gave his own wave. “Janus, charmed to meet you.” Remus’ eyebrows rose in a questioning manner, only for Janus to frown slightly at him. His focus went back towards Virgil, perched in Janus’ arms like it’s a throne. The little guy giving his own wave at Picani and his own tyke. 

Said tyke seemingly trying to pull Remus’ arms around like noodles, shaking them around at points with a tiny growl. Picani peaked his attention to his youngling. “Oh! And my humanling’s name is Remy. He’s around ten months old, he likes mashed grevnjii carrots, and he really likes to pull hair. Just as a heads up.” Remy practically tugged on the hairs lining Remus’ arms as a demonstration. Remus snickered as Janus stared at the display, holding Virgil just a little bit closer. Picani sighed, gesturing towards their bundled-up young. “So what’s little cutie pie’s name?” Virgil turned his face towards Remus then Janus before going back to Picani.

“His name’s-“

“Oh, and you think we’ll readily give that information? Humans are easy targets after all, how do we know this isn’t some trick?” Remus snapped his gaze back to Janus, the other holding a harsh glare towards Picani like he insisted on giving up on Virgil. Is this why he was cold?

Emile sighed, “look, I won’t sit here and pretend like those aren’t genuine concerns. Simply because that’s completely understandable, I had the same feeling when I first got Remy. But then I picked up really quickly that the number of children and parents willing to interact with a human child that’s got  _ any _ parent that’s a deathworlder is super low. Especially in these kinds of solar systems.” Janus kept glaring at this Emile person, unconvinced of his words. “Heck, I can tell you two have seen it. The staring, the glares, and I did see at least two parents actively keep their kids away from yours.” He could feel his eye twitch a bit as he spoke, feeling more called out as the one-sided conversation fuels on. “I’m not asking for you to just trust me based on us both having a human young, but maybe set up a few playdates for them could do them both some good?” Janus let out a strained sigh.

“... His name’s Virgil. And I think that’s all I’m going to voice.”

Emile seemed to perk up at this. Remus was shocked by this sudden shift, but certainly not complaining. Roman’s wheezing was definitely something to complain about as he seemed to appear out of nowhere. “J-Janus…” he took a moment to catch his breath again. “Could… could you come with me and Patton to find more baby stuff for Virgil? Just the three of us?” Janus snapped his gase between both Roman and Remus, obviously displeased with the notion of leaving Virgil and Remus behind for any reason. His mate took his hand, pressing a kiss to it to help soothe Janus.

“It’s okay boo, I’ll work out the deets with Mr. Cartoons over here. You go indulge yourself in baby stuff!” Janus blushing a bit at the slightly teasing tone. 

He let out a breath, “Okay. But you better be here when I come back, Remus. I’m serious.” He pointed defensively as he got up and followed Roman.

He could vaguely hear Remus as he walked saying, “Now, back to business…”

  
  
  
  
  


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“Oh! How about this one! It’s got so many widdle animals on-“

“Virgil can’t handle bright colors well, Patton. Go for duller or darker colors.” Patton put the bright pink onesie back on the clip as he looks around more. A sigh slips past Janus’ lips for what feels like the hundredth time today. 

At least Roman has been more sensible about this so far. “Hopefully the black cat onesie I snook in will be enough.” He hears Roman mumble as he’s looking at a pair of youngling swings, one made for blindox’s and one made for grevnjii young. His eyes slip down to Roman as he hums in thought. “I know you aren’t keen on going with anything grevnjii, so maybe we should go with the blindox model?” Roman’s eyes Janus’ mask with a confused face. 

Janus looks over the sizes for each, shaking his head at the results. “The Blindox seat is at least five times too large for Virgil’s body and far too few straps to keep him safe. The grevnjii swing will be the better option to go with.” He goes over to pick up the box set for the grevnjii swing, only to turn and see Roman staring at him with tears building and his mouth slightly agape. Oh shit, what did he say to cause this? “Um, are… are you alright Roman?”

He watched as the tiny alien wiped at his face. “S-sorry. I was… I just thought you were avoiding the grevnjii stuff on purpose.” Janus’ eyes widened to the size of klrunaq blueberries before looking back at the two swings then back to Roman, trying to piece together what his choice of swing had anything to do with something like this. Roman continued explaining, “I noticed you didn’t really go for anything grevnjii for Virgil so I just thought… I thought that it was because of how me and my parents have been about… y’know.” Janus blinked in confusion at what he was talking about. “And I know I screwed up really, really badly when it comes to you and Virgil. I just…” Janus walks up to Roman and places his hand against his shoulder in comfort as Roman collected himself a bit more. “I wanna make things right. Janus, I’m really sorry. About everything, really.”

Janus held his hand up, “It’s… it’s fine Roman.”

“It wasn’t I was- it wasn’t fair to you.”

“... but it’s okay now, right?” Janus was… never used to getting apologies, he wasn’t sure how to take any of this. 

Roman sniffles as he nods. “Yeah, yeah it’s all good now.” Janus pats Roman’s shoulder as he picks the swings box back up, heading towards the spacesuits. Just in case they enter any space areas without proper air for the little fella. He glanced back at Roman, still a bit worried by Roman’s sudden drop in morale. “Sorry about that, stuff has... Just been weird. I’ve been tracking and recording calls from my parent and-”

“-You're still in contact with them?” he couldn't keep from feeling… Suddenly unsafe hearing this.

Roman raised his hands in surrender. “It's not that I agree with them! It's just…” he dropped his arms to his sides. “They've both been acting super weird lately. And it's really hard to ignore when this stuff happened around the time you got… Yeah.” Janus just started at the floor, is Roman implying what he thinks he's implying? “Logan’s helping me record everything. I've decided that telling them that you’re still missing and that I disowned Remus is the best way to reel them in. Maybe enough for them to drop whatever they’re hiding, whatever that is.”

Janus nodded, it was… a lot to take in. But thank God he knows now. He’ll be sure to avoid the communications doc like it's got a wild beast inside. “What made you want to tell me about this?” The two began walking once more.

Roman shrugged, “Logan said it was better to tell you about this than let you find pieces and get the wrong idea. I wanted to wait until we found something but… I dunno, it's just felt wrong to keep you out of the loop much longer.” Janus nodded, feeling a bit comforted by the regard. “And besides, it was way too uncomfortable keeping stuff like that bottled up for so long. I still don't get how you pulled off being undercover for weeks at a time without losing your mind.” Janus chuckled as they approached Patton.

“Well, it helped to know that by the end I'll get to spend a good chunk of time alone with Remus.” Roman jokingly gagged at the remark while Janus laugh, playfully nudging him as Patton spotted them. 

“Okay! I know you said duller colors, but what about this orange spacesuit. Eh? Eh? C’mon, you both think it’s little fruit patched are cute too.” 

Roman rolled his eyes playfully. “C’mon Pat, that's not even that flattering of a shade of orange to go with.” Janus nodded in agreement.

“Besides, it doesn't even have a proper shade filter. I don't want Virgil going blind because I went with aesthetic over safety.” Roman snickered a bit, now understanding Janus’ selection choice a bit better now. “If anything the purple stars spacesuit next to it would be the wiser choice to go with.” he picked the box for it off the shelf, showing them both the front. “See, it's got a shader feature in the visor, has a cooling and heating system, has a strong grip system in the shoes, and it even has a small metal loop on the front and back of it so Virgil doesn't drop his toy while outside and a place for A safety cord if gravity is too weak to keep him stationary. The orange one doesn't show nearly as many.” Roman blinked, surprised by how quick Janus was to find this one when they just got here. Patton just pouted, clearly just wanting to play dress up. Roman patted him as the three began heading to check out.

Neither had to say a word as Patton gasped in glee at seeing the black cat onesie being rung up with everything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update! I don't promise to update regularly but I'll try to add more to these stories soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I won't promise regularly uploaded chapters but I hope you enjoyed reading what I have so far!


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